Which Real Housewife Does Julie Klausner Call "Very Warm and Flirty"?
The Difficult People star opens up about the action-packed second season of her Hulu series.
As if you needed any other reasons to check out Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner on their biting and hilarious Hulu sitcom, Difficult People, we've got two for you: Luann de Lesseps and Sonja Morgan. The Real Housewives of New York City pals are slated to make a cameo on the series' sophomore season, which debuts on Tuesday, July 12. And, as you might imagine, working with the two women was an incredible experience for a RHONY superfan like Julie.
"Oh boy! Let's put it this way, I was and am delighted to have them both on the show," Julie told The Daily Dish. "And, Luann, actually I will say this she has a whole scene with Andrea Martin, Sonja kind of comes in later and so Luann's on camera more. I gave her more to challenge her with. I think she completely rose to the occasion. I'm really excited. She did a great job and I think she's really funny in it. And I just love her so much."
After meeting Luann last year, Julie wanted to include her in the show's second season. As for Sonja, she had met her years prior when she had her as a guest on her How Was Your Week? podcast. "I had Sonja on my podcast years ago, and she was so lovely," she said. "Everything you see on the show really is who she is. She's very warm and flirty, whether or not you agree or disagree with her life decisions or whatever people get worked up about on the show with her, she's a lovely, warm person and I think that comes across and she's a riot."
Season 2 of Difficult People once again follows the Big Apple adventures of disgruntled best friends Julie and Billy (played by Julie and Billy Eichner) as they try and make their dreams of show biz superstardom come true. And that friendship is really what makes the series so special. "I feel like one of my big goals on the show is to tap into the really, really special friendship between gay men and straight women and go well beyond Will and Grace and really show the sort of juicy, nasty side of the things that people connect over," she said. "Your best friend is the only part of the world that you can tolerate. We do make an effort to ground it in that friendship time and time again and [the fact] that it's universal is hugely flattering... We created rules around the show, you never see Billy and Julie fight. We're never gonna have things going on behind each others' backs. We're allies on the show, there's nothing that would threaten that bond."
When it comes to coming up with ideas for the show, Julie says she's constantly taking notes on things that she notices out in the world around her — which means putting a spotlight on her Bravo obsession. Andy Cohen made an appearance last season, the RHONY ladies are among the A-listers stopping by in Season 2, and there's even an amazing Botched reference included this time around as well. "I have a theory that if Botched were on Bravo then all those scenes where Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif are like ribbing each other would not be there. Bravo viewers would be like, 'Nope!'" she joked to us. "I digest a lot of pop culture, not only in a week, but over my lifetime. I grew up watching a lot of TV. I don't want to speak for Billy, but one of the things we connected about when we first met was that we both cared about pop culture and show business and TV, film way more than someone and, again just speaking for myself, may have had more healthy relationships with their peers growing up."
With so much explored this season (like one of Billy's love interests being a guy with an old-timey obsession and a secret Nazi collection), there's one thing that Julie will always make space for in the show. "We're not going to relent on any of the Kevin Spacey jokes until we're sued by him."
As for what's next for Julie? Well, she's hoping to get an invite to Luann's Palm Beach wedding later this year. "I really hope so. And you know what? I never take it personally if I'm not invited to someone's wedding because it's very expensive and it's a whole thing," she said. "But if I am invited, I will attend with honor. I'm very happy for her. I know she complains that no one's happy for her, I am happy for her."
Check out some photos of Julie and Billy from their Watch What Happens Live appearance last year.