Josh Thomas: 'I'm just trying not to be hideous'
While flattered to be a part of WHO's Sexiest People 2016 issue, Josh Thomas has a confession to make.
"I gave up on trying to be sexy a long time ago, like maybe when I was 17," the writer, actor and comedian says. "Best decision I ever made!"
Instead, the star of Please Like Me, which returns to the ABC on Nov. 9 for its fourth season, says his current goals are quite simple. "I try to eat good food and go to the gym, but that's just trying to be passable," says Thomas, 29. "I'm just trying not to be hideous."
Yet in order to be the alter-ego Josh he plays on his show, Thomas has to film his share of love scenes and naked moments. "I've done a lot in the last four years," he concedes. "I find them quite easy now."
Instead of helping, Thomas says new cast members who come on board the series may find his comfort unnerving. "They would walk on set and they don't know anyone and then we'd have to do a sex scene and I'm way to casual about it," he says. "I'll just kiss them. Whereas I used to be, 'Ooh, so this is scary, isn't it?' Now I'm just way too chill and maybe that's, like, creepy?"
Or maybe that's part of the maturation process, one TV Josh and real-life Josh have been going through. "I think he's sort of grown up as I have," says Thomas. "I'm almost 30 and we started this show when I was 20, so you short of change a lot in that time, and he's sort of changed along with me."
This season, Josh explores singledom. "I realise that he's never really been single in the show," Thomas says. "He's just been dating after this quite long relationship, so there's this episode where he just goes on various dates. It was very easy to write because we haven't done it yet and we had many stories."
What isn't so easy is finding the perfect partner, sexy or not. "I want someone that I like," says Thomas. "Through my sexual adventures, I realised that what is actually more important than body-fat percentage is that I like them. Not necessarily love them, but have a nice time with them!
Yet when asked if Thomas has grown accustomed to seeing himself on-screen or in photos, especially since he has just spent three months in post-production watching himself in a loop, he gets shy. "I definitely don't like looking at myself," he says. "But I'm doing fine. I'm OK. I'm not worried about it. But I definitely do just wish I had Liam Hemsworth's face."
Thinking on it more, Thomas adds, "I'd love to be a Hemsworth. I don't want the name. I want the genetics!"