Benito Skinner is ready to celebrate the end of a milestone summer after making the leap from digital sketch comedy to the small screen as both the creator and star of “Overcompensating.”
Skinner ― known to his roughly 3 million TikTok and Instagram followers as Benny Drama ― used his post-adolescent years in Boise, Idaho, as inspiration for the coming-of-age series, which premiered on Amazon Prime Video in May. He plays Benny Scanlon, a former high school athlete, valedictorian and homecoming king who is struggling to come to terms with his queer sexuality as he begins his first semester at the fictional Yates University.
Amid his efforts to maintain a heteronormative facade around his older sister, Grace (Mary Beth Barone), and her boyfriend, Peter (Adam DiMarco), Benny connects with fellow freshman Carmen (Wally Baram), who is feeling similarly exasperated by college life. Hookups and hijinks ensue as Benny fumbles his way toward self-acceptance.
By all accounts, “Overcompensating” is a buzzy, breakout hit with both critics and viewers, boosted by an A-list roster of guest stars ― which includes Connie Britton, Kyle Maclachlan, James Van Der Beek and Bowen Yang ― and a Charli XCX-curated soundtrack.
The success of “Overcompensating,” Skinner told HuffPost, has “felt so surreal,” particularly given its lengthy gestation.
“I’ve been working on it for almost six years now, so to have people ― especially queer people ― come up to me and say they saw their experience reflected on screen in a way they maybe hadn’t seen before has felt like such an honor,” he said. “I feel so incredibly lucky that people found the show and rallied behind it.”
Getting back into the headspace of his closeted self for his character on the show, however, was a bit of a “cringe” experience.
“I’m not going to say ‘traumatic,’ because it was obviously a safe environment,” he quipped. “But so many things you see on the show, I actually did.”
This week, Skinner was unveiled as the face of Heineken’s “0.0 Reasons, 0.0 Judgment” campaign, spotlighting the company’s nonalcoholic beer brand at the U.S. Open in New York. Like “Overcompensating,” he feels the campaign highlights “the ways that we limit ourselves, feel such shame in just living our lives and trying to be truthful to what we want.”
Through both his portrayal of a closeted jock on “Overcompensating” and his appearance at the U.S. Open, Skinner is seemingly creating a safe space for members of the LGBTQ+ community in the sports world, where openly queer athletes and other figures remain scarce.
Craig Barritt via Getty Images
“I just think queer people should be everywhere,” he said. “We are everywhere [but] to feel like we can’t go into spaces … or thinking we’re not allowed to be in sports or we can’t care about sports, I don’t want to live in that world.”
With his Hollywood profile at a new high, Skinner is aware he’ll also have to work harder than ever this fall to maintain his long-standing reputation as a Halloween enthusiast. He and his boyfriend, director and photographer Terrence O’Connor, are known for their jaw-dropping couples’ looks, such as Elvis and Priscilla Presley and their “Death Becomes Her” homage, both unveiled last year.
Though Skinner is tight-lipped on specifics, he said his costume this year will include a wink at “Overcompensating.” And while the series itself has yet to be officially renewed, Skinner has already begun thinking about what lies ahead for Benny and his pals in a prospective second season.
“I’m really interested in the experience of starting to come out to your family and, I think, the beginnings of trying to reintroduce yourself to yourself,” he said. “That’s something that took me a really long time, and I’m still on that journey right now. There’s so much I want to say about finding out what you’ve missed out on and the people who have come before you.”
