Whereas my mother, my sister and I very obsessively examined and questioned everything. Because I saw that he'd sort of shoot himself in the foot with his silence and his unwillingness to explore his feelings I also saw the benefit of his toughness and the simplicity in his outlook.
He was a very silent, stoic, private figure-did not believe in sharing his emotions a lot. My father, who was a very tough Jew, went to the gym every day and he was not somebody who took any shit from anyone. Tell me a bit about your upbringing and how the paternal figures in your life impacted who you are today? It is every genre taken to the millionth percent. Below, Brett and I discuss his upbringing and subsequent path to acting, the woes of childhood neuroticism, budding sexuality and obsessive compulsive disorder, what comedy means to him, which brands and stores he loves, his role in the new season of Stranger Things-'It's one of the greatest things ever made and this season is high fucking octane. He’s also about embracing its quirks, along with his own. Gelman calls himself “Jaddy,” a portmanteau of Jewish and daddy, and is all about embracing the strength and resilience that comes with his heritage.
