Troy Iwata is a gift for all seasons.
The actor had his first major breakthrough screen role in Netflix‘s charming festive rom-com series, Dash & Lily, which remains a perfect watch for the holidays. But he can do spooky season, too, appearing in this year’s frighteningly funny horror-comedy Summoning Sylvia.
There’s really not much Iwata can’t do, with a rapidly growing list of roles on stage (Be More Chill, the Boy Who Walked On Air) and screen (WeCrashed, Katy Keene).
And, recently, he added another great gig to his resume: Appearing on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show as a new guest correspondent reporting on topics like book bans and professional cuddlers. Alongside another new addition, Grace Kuhlenschmidt, Iwata is helping bring some long-overdue queer energy to the show.
Oh, and did we mention he has a killer Britney Spears impression, too? Leave some talent for the rest of us, Troy!
With the holidays in full swing, we snagged a few moments to put Iwata in the hot seat for our rapid-fire Q&A series, Dishin’ It. In our chat, the actor opens up about finding community in Disneyland, why Love, Actually is the gayest Christmas movie of all, and why cuddling with him is like “cuddling with “snuggling with a sack of angular bones.”
Is there a piece of media—whether a movie, TV series, book, album, theater, video game, etc…—that you consider a big part of your own coming-out journey, or that has played an important role in your understanding of queerness? Why does it stand out to you?
I would like to think of myself as someone who was influenced and effected by something iconic like Will & Grace. But I’m trash, I was Youtube-ing all the sex scenes from Nip/Tuck, Queer As Folk, and the Eating Out movies, then deleting my search history on the family computer. Sometimes I’d skip school to pirate and watch them and when my Mom would come home for her lunch break I’d hide in the bathtub and eat bread so I wouldn’t make loud eating sounds.
We’ve loved seeing you make appearances as a guest correspondent on The Daily Show! What would you say has been the most surprising part of being a part of that show and bringing an episode/segment together?
Thank you! Honestly the most surprising and beautiful part is how incredibly safe and chill they’ve made me feel anytime I’ve come into work. It’s a machine of a show, constantly creating content, sometimes the day of airing, yet there’s a great sense of community and collaboration. It’s a dream job I truly never dreamed of having. On one of my first days, a producer said something like, “We’re always open to new ideas, if you don’t like a joke we’ll tweak it or drop it, and at the end if you don’t like a piece or it’s just not working, we’ll throw it away.” I was like, “Werk.”
You recently had a hilarious Daily Show segment taking a deep dive into professional cuddlers. Do you think you’d make a good professional cuddler? Why or why not?
Depends on the client and whether or not they enjoy the sensation of snuggling with a sack of angular bones. One time when I was a kid I sat on Santa’s lap at a mall and he said, “Ow, get off.”
Where’s one of the first places/spaces you can remember that made you feel a part of a queer community?
As gay as it sounds—well that’s the point—Disneyland. I grew up in a small mountain town and genuinely didn’t meet my first out and proud gay person until college when I worked there. Of course I fell in love with all of them and the lesbians became protective mothers. And don’t even get me started on Disney’s Gay Days, college Troy was overwhelmed with joy, excitement, and lust, ya know, the 3 emotions everyone has at Disneyland.
You’re forever a part of the “Christmas canon” thanks to your role in Netflix’s charming holiday series, Dash & Lily. With that in mind, what would you say is the gayest of the otherwise straight, classic holiday movies and why?
How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Nightmare Before Christmas are tied for 2nd because they both feature a boat load of unofficially LGBTQIA+ characters. But honestly I think Love Actually takes the cake only because everyone in that movie is so melodramatic and needs to get the f*ck over themselves. Even the title is gay, it’s as if the movie is just called “Love: but they don’t think you believe them, “Love…Actually.” Like I know gurl, I heard you.
Who’s a fictional character you had a crush on at a younger age (or maybe still do!)? What do you remember loving about them?
Raviv Ullman from Phil Of The Future, 2121 to be exact. He would um…smile a lot, and he has nice…thick teeth, boy’s got good enamel. Also Benny from The Sandlot, specifically when he’s running from the Beast through the Founders Day Picnic and he clears that 5-tiered cake, I mean that is a true showcase of peak physical fitness.
We’re big fans of your hysterical horror-comedy Summoning Sylvia from earlier this year, with a cast and crew that was an embarrassment of gay riches. Do you have any favorite funny memories from set that you can share?
We were filming in a very old house in Jersey and apparently some pipes burst and the entire basement flooded with sewage, but because we were a low-budget indie we couldn’t afford to stop production so they didn’t tell us until after we wrapped. Our head producer said, “Yeah I was downstairs trudging through and mopping up sewage while you guys were filming upstairs.” To which we replied, “Well thank you for keeping it down.” So when you’re watching, just know that at any moment there could have been doo-doo below us, we love an Easter Egg.
Who is a queer or trans chef/artist/performer/creator that you think is doing really cool work right now? Why are they someone we should all be paying attention to?
I have 2! Joel Waggoner and Rocky Paterra! Both comedy writers and musicians and genuinely have never created anything that hasn’t had me rolling on the floor laughing while simultaneously being impressed by how legitimately talented they are.
Rocky’s released a fair amount of music, my current favorite is called “Jesus’ Blood Is the Red Part Of Your Candy Cane,” his voice is killer btw, and his TikTok and IG are treasures. And Joel co-created one of my favorite things to date with his writing partner Julia Mattison, called their “Advent Carolndar” which they’ve turned into a concert series and a movie entitled Joel & Julia’s Haunted Holiday Singalong which everyone needs to watch.
