Terry Gross

So it was the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Describe the foundation of the church.

But they probably knew you were gay just as the students in your schools knew you were gay.

Yeah, so it must have made it extra confusing when you wanted to be a pastor and you couldn't because it meant you wouldn't be able to act out on your own sexuality because you'd have to be celibate, whereas straight people wouldn't have to be celibate to be a pastor.

The other thing you loved about church was the pageantry, the singing.

The church was like theater for you.

You loved theater.

You loved the whole idea of performance.

And did you like being in choir?

Why did you feel called to be a pastor?

So when you left the church, did that leave a big hole in your life and in your identity?

My guest is Jeff Hiller.

He won an Emmy for his performance in the HBO series Somebody Somewhere.

I spoke with him last August after his memoir, Actress of a Certain Age, was published.

We'll be right back.

This is Fresh Air.

What got you interested in improv?

On the downside of improv, you say, and this is you speaking, only 1% of improv is funny.

That's a pretty terrible track record.

So what keeps you in it if you have such a low regard for the results?