Jeff Hiller’s Big Break Came In His 40s
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Austin Tice is an American journalist who disappeared over a decade ago while reporting in Syria. And for years we've been searching for him. This looks like a secret passage. I'm just pushing a door so you can get in. Go, go, go.
Listen to Where is Austin Tice from NPRs Embedded and BBC Radio 4 on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Fresh Air. I'm Terry Gross. We're continuing our series featuring some of our favorite interviews of 2025. I think it's fair to say that everyone who watched the HBO series Somebody Somewhere, including me, wanted actor Jeff Hiller to be their friend.
He played Joel, a sympathetic and supportive friend with a great sense of humor. Somebody somewhere was the big break Hiller had been hoping for for decades. As he writes in his new memoir, If you're obviously gay, But not hot, your roles are limited. You just play the bitchy gay, which is what he played in lots of small parts in episodes of a lot of TV shows and commercials.
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