“It made me indecisive, and I always struggle with that, even on a good day,” Eichner tells The New York Times, discussing the release of his new audio-only book. “So when that happened, which was obviously disappointing, it just took me a minute to get up on my feet again.” When Times critic Jason Zinoman points out that it’s not all that unusual for comedies to have a middling opening weekend and that the movie was overall pretty well-received critically, Eichner says, “I’m still human, and I was sad.”
“I love the movie from a creative standpoint. I don’t think I failed in that regard at all. I’m quite proud of it,” he continues. “But there was so much hype and buildup and it was such a big part of my life for years that when the dreamy scenario — where it makes the money it’s supposed to make and propels me to other offers and roles, which happens with commercial success — when that didn’t happen, it took a lot out of me. It’s very personal. I’m not just out there like winging it. I haven’t written very much because of that.” Eichner went on to compare the feeling to the end of a romantic relationship.
Part of the pain of it sounds like it stems from Eichner’s feeling that the movie wasn’t received well by other gay men. “It’s just a fact. That’s what happened,” Eichner tells the Times. “But I think that’s a product of social media, having rewired our brains to react immediately and jump in the comments and all that stuff. I expected a little bit of that, having always been a gay man and known exactly how gay men are. It didn’t really come as a surprise.” Still, Eichner says, “I love gay men. I love my people, even when they don’t react well to me or my work.” However, Eichner does say he’s still working on a movie about Paul Lynde, which he’s doing because “someone offered.”
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