Name: Brandon Kyle Goodman
Age: 34
Hometown: New York City
Now lives: In a one-bedroom apartment in Hollywood with his husband, Matthew Raymond-Goodman, and their dog, Korey.
Claim to fame: Mr. Goodman is an actor and writer best known for “Big Mouth,” an adult animated sitcom on Netflix about preteens surviving puberty. He is the voice of Walter, a queer lovebug.
Mr. Goodman is also a Black and queer activist who hosts a weekly podcast, “Black Folx,” which features conversations about diverse Black voices. “Being a nonbinary gay Black person in Hollywood is an uphill battle” he said. “As a storyteller, I, too, want the chance to play with all the colors in the crayon box of humanity instead of being sidelined as a trope.
Big break: After graduating from the Tisch School of Arts at New York University in 2009, Mr. Goodman began writing a pilot about three queer friends in New York City in search of love called “Sweet Boys,” filled with poignant observations about modern romance drawn from his own journey.
His agent submitted it to “Big Mouth.” “They loved it and thought that it fit with their world,” he said. “I remember one of the creators of the show, Jennifer Flackett, saying the characters in my pilot reminded them of the ‘Big Mouth’ kids as grown-ups.”
Latest project: Mr. Goodman just finished playing Walter again, this time on “Human Resources,” a spinoff of “Big Mouth” set in a workplace. His co-stars include Randall Park, Keke Palmer and Aidy Bryant. “It’s a dream to be part of the ‘Big Mouth’ universe as a writer, and then to be trusted to join its legendary roster of comedic icons as a voice on the show is nothing short of an honor,” he said. “I’m still pinching myself.”
Next thing: Mr. Goodman is working on his first book, a collection of essays on Black queerness to be published next fall by Legacy Lit Books, a division of Hachette Books focused on BIPOC authors. “My hope is that, if you’re white, cis and het, you’ll have a really candid look into what it is to be Black and queer,” he said. “And if you’re Black and queer, or you’re living in the intersections, you’ll have language that articulates your experience because that’s what I missed growing up — language that articulated my experience.”
Going Live: Every week, Mr. Goodman goes live on Instagram to answer questions about queer sex. “I know that to the outside this all could look raunchy, but to me, it’s activism because sex positivity and talking about how much shame there is around sex is super-important, and I wanted to create a safe space to do that,” he said.
