In 2022, American actor and producer Billy Eichner wrote and starred in the moving American gay-rom com Bros, a plot revolving around two gay men who are afraid of commitment, finding love and fondness out of accepting their vulnerabilities and moving beyond the hookup culture.
In the Universal Pictures all-LGBTIQ+ cast movie, Eichner himself portrayed the lead character, gay podcast host Boby Lieber, who preferred hookups instead of committed dating or marital relationships.
Boby's love interest in the film is a gay estate lawyer, Aaron (portrayed by Canadian actor Luke Macfarlane). Initially, the two characters find each other boring and incompatible.
The movie was marketed as one of its first queer rom-com to be featured by a major studio. However, it couldn't turn out to be a box-office success.
Still, it got positive reviews from most critics and publications who commended Eichner and his co-writer/director, Nicholas Stoller, for trying to organize the gay characters relative to the contemporary gay culture and keeping the storyline and screenplay bold yet funny, satirical and moving.
Eichner, who is also known as the creator and star of the American game show Billy On The Street, later said that "homophobia" was one of the factors that contributed to the movie's bad financial performance.
And after he made the controversial comment, netizens have been more curious to know why the movie failed in the market.
However, it will take another whole article to explain all the factors that might have led to the movie's box office result.
Rather, today's article will rather delve into the New York-born actor's relationship status, sexuality, and other most-asked queries.
What is Billy Eichner's sexuality?
Eichner is a proud gay who is known for his strong voice in favor of more representation of LGBTIQ+ in the on-screen industry. He has repeatedly spoken about the lack of roles segregated for the LGBTIQ+ community in the industry.
Speaking to Hollywood Reporter about the all-LGBTIQ+ cast in Bros, Eichner said that he and other film development colleagues insisted to Universal that it was their priority to give opportunities to the members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
"On a cultural level, it's a powerful statement to make. But on a practical level, we're doing the first gay rom-com ever made by a major studio, and most of the characters in it are LGBTQ — there are some straight characters as well. I want to give other openly LGBTQ actors these opportunities," he explained.
Eichner added that the movie is one of its kind dedicated to the community with a relative storyline.
It becomes very emotional for people because you realize: “My God, what we’ve missed!” All those years of me seeing those movies with my parents as a kid — Pretty Woman, Dirty Dancing, When Harry Met Sally, Annie Hall, I could go on — they were never about people like me. There are no stories about us falling in love, navigating love, dating, relationships, and you don’t realize what you haven’t gotten until you finally see it. This is an event. It’s the first of its kind. You can feel that in the theater when you’re watching it
Eichner knew he was gay but didn't completely live his sexuality until he started performing on stage as a comedian. He had resorted to "straight acting," but things changed when he did skits that eventually turned into Billy On The Street persona.
"I was more flamboyant. It's like I leaned into the opposite extreme, but that wasn't a premeditated choice," he retrospected, talking to New York Times.
But after a fan asked him why he was more of a gay in reel life compared to real life, he started questioning himself. Finally, he told Times that the "truth was in the middle," and he was, infact, a shy person when he went to gay bars in his 20s.
He also explained that he wasn't like Billy in real life; rather, he said that the journalists occasionally should have been "disappointed that I was just normal and I wasn't coming at them and shouting."
Who is Billy Eichner dating?
In the same interview with Times, Eichner disclosed that he hadn't had a long relationship ever since his relationship with a guy for two and half years starting from 2003.
Eichner then described his life after the breakup as similar to his Bros character Boby. He also met a guy in 2015, and the experience changed his one-dimensional focus on his career.
"The experience I had with that guy in 2015 really shifted my focus for the first time, and after that, my walls went right back up. But even though it didn't work out, it taught me not to ignore these other parts of my life," Eichner recalled
"When I'm watching "Bros," and the guys start becoming more romantic and intimate … well, everyone can make fun of me for saying this, but I get swept away by it, too," he shared.
As of now, Eichner has not disclosed his relationship status. However, his recent online ventures seem to hint that he is currently on the dating scene. During his Late Night With Seth Meyers appearance in September 2022, the talented actor disclosed that he had been booted off from Tinder twice.
In the same month, he also told Entertainment Tonight that he hated the online dating scene and preferred meeting people "in person." He said that his biggest deal breaker was people trying to be funny and pushing themselves out of their authentic selves.
Does Billy Eichner have a glass Eye?
His eyes are also equally popular, but not for any typical reason. Instead, it is because they appear abnormal to many of his fans and followers.
Courtesy of this, loyal followers can't help but wonder what is wrong with Eichner's eyes.
Eichner has been active as an actor, creator, producer, and comedian for over a decade, at least since 2008.
Over the years of his career, the 43-year-old has never mentioned having a problem with his eyes.
There have also been no substantial reports of him undergoing eye surgery or having a glass eye.
So how did the conversation on this topic start, and why do people still assume something is wrong with his eyes?
Read on to find out.
Does Billy Eichner have a lazy eye?
The conversations about Eichner's baby blues apparently spurred after he was spotted with a lazy right eye in season 6 of the NBC drama Parks and Recreation.
A Reddit thread based on the show's characters and storyline reported that the famed actor's right eye was droopy for the entire season.
But, interestingly, it wasn't visibly there when Eichner returned for season seven.
The Reddit user wondered if the actor made his appearance so deliberately, noting that Eichner didn't have such a look in real life.
The person guessed Eichner "did it as a sort of...metaphor, for one side being 'calm' and the other being 'intense'"
However, the user ended the topic by admitting they had no idea.
Billy Eichner's lazy right eye is visible in Difficult People. (Photo: Twitter)
Another Reddit thread on the same topic encapsulated similar opinions. One internet user pinpointed he had seen many of Eichner's YouTube videos but never noticed the asymmetry.
"Maybe it's a new affliction," the person added. However, another follower suggested it could be an "over-exaggeration for the character."
While many of his fans believe Eichner faked the lazy eye in the show for his character, not everyone is on the same page.
Some netizens speculate that he might have a glass eye. And some even wonder if he suffers from horner syndrome, a nerve pathway disruption from the brain to the head that might cause drooping eyelids, among other symptoms.
That's because the comedian still had a lazy eye when he portrayed the role of Billy Epstein in the television series Difficult People.
And the appearance had everyone rushing to the internet to find out why he looked so.
A Twitter user wrote, "Not me googling, 'Why does Billy Eichner's eye look like that?'" on December 5, 2021.
Despite the burning curiosity, Eichner has never commented about his looks, neither confirming nor refuting the claims of him having a glass eye. Still, one can see the distinct differences between his two eyes—his right eye seems to move less and looks smaller than his left eye.
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