Kit Williamson toys with threesomes in the second season of his web series, EastSiders.
Brandon Voss
"Everyone asks me if the show is autobiographical, but it’s unequivocally not,” says writer and director Kit Williamson of EastSiders, his award-winning web series about friends and lovers in the artsy Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. It’s a fair question. Recently engaged to EastSiders co-star and producer John Halbach, the Mad Men alum also stars as Cal, who’s still reeling after his split from cheating boyfriend Thom. “There are elements of my life in all the characters, but Cal and Thom are not Kit and John.”
If he were more like his character, Williamson would probably be inviting me over for a threesome. At the start of the show’s Kickstarter-funded second season, which premieres September 15, Cal and Thom (out three-time Daytime Emmy nominee Van Hansis) are dating again but have opened up their relationship in a big way. “They aren’t sure what the future holds, but they know their relationship can’t be what it used to be,” Williamson explains. “No one should have to prescribe to heteronormative relationship standards. People should focus on doing the right thing for themselves and their relationships.”
It’s not long before Cal and Thom’s bedroom becomes a revolving door of random dick. That can’t possibly end well, can it? “You’ll have to watch,” he says with a laugh. “Sex can bring two people — or more — closer together, and it can be a lot of fun, but we’re all familiar with the darker side of sex. Not only can you contract diseases, you can also be emotionally hurt by treating sex too casually. There’s a balance to be found.”
Balancing out the erotic drama is new guest star Willam Belli of RuPaul’s Drag Race fame as an aspiring drag queen and unexpected love interest. “The first day I met with Willam to talk about his character, he immediately launched into a story about butt-chugging, which is where you take a funnel and pour, like, a Cape Cod into your butt,” Williamson recalls. “At first glance he might seem unprofessional, but he’s always prepared, always hilarious, and always willing to bring new and unexpected things to the role.”
Also new this season is Cal’s edgier, sexier look. “After a traumatic breakup, a lot of people undergo a physical transformation as a means of reasserting their identity,” Williamson says. “Cal’s going to the gym and shaved the sides of his head. He’s not an innocent kid anymore.”
Next, September 2015.