Video: Grey Henson Gets Ready to Play 'Sweet Gay Boy' Bigfoot

“I can’t believe we are doing this,” Grey Henson says, his voice nervous, his eyes thrilled. “I can’t believe I’m on camera right now.”

Henson has come to the Playbill Studio to showcase his newly honed makeup skills. Only, he’s not delicately applying brown freckles or carefully flicking each brown eyebrow hair. No, he’s enthusiastically applying thick strokes of brown contour to his browbone to create what he calls, “the Neanderthal forehead.” The Tony-nominated (for Mean Girls, and don’t you forget it!) 6’3’’-tall Henson is currently playing Bigfoot in Bigfoot! A New Musical.

The completely charming and utterly stupid (complimentary) musical by Amber Ruffin, David A. Schmoll, and Kevin Sciretta is in performances at New York City Center (in the basement, though Henson proudly clarifies that is Theatre One until April 26.

The musical takes place in Muddirt, a town sandwiched between a chemical dump site and a power plant. Bigfoot lives in the woods that surrounds the town he loves, sneaking in at nightly to repair damages while longing for the mundanity of small-town life. As Bigfoot, Henson sways, sings, and struts across the stage (in a fabulous head-to-toe fur costume by Ricky Reynoso) all the while maintaining an infectious grin, a glee that comes from deep within. Yes, Henson loves Bigfoot as much as Bigfoot loves Muddirt. And he taps into that love as soon as the first brush touches his (human) face.

“It’s really centering,” Henson says of the makeup application (designed by J. Jared Janas & Cassie Williams), which he does himself. “The fact that I have to sit down and slowly paint my face is like therapy. When I wear the beard, wig, everything, you can’t see my human neck. I am truly covered from head to toe.”

Through Bigfoot, Henson has found a spark of joy in what could be considered, to a non-makeup wearer, as a daunting multi-step routine—he compares his complex make-up plot to Elphaba’s in Wicked. “I’m not Elphaba,” Henson laughs. “Like, someone is not coming in [and] painting me green. But, Elphaba is really missing out on not doing it herself. Because there’s something so rewarding about being like, ‘I did my own makeup for this show to play Bigfoot.’”

To see the many steps of Henson’s transformation, hear the inspiration behind his “actor name,” and learn why he doesn’t think he could be part of Saturday Night Live, check out the latest episode of Playbill’s Getting Ready above.

It’s (relatively) early in the morning. Henson has this video to shoot, a bit of guerilla-style (pardon the expression) marketing to do in Times Square, and a performance that evening.

"Spoiler alert!" Henson says. "Bigfoot is a sweet gay boy living in the woods.”

As Henson continues describing Bigfoot, drawing parallels between a life hidden in a thick wood and a youth in the closet, I cannot help but notice the other ways the two lovable beings are intertwined. Henson's energy is boundless, so much so that he is constantly interrupting himself, either with a new train of thought or by collapsing his 6-foot frame into giggles. In this way, he and Bigfoot are aligned—relentless optimists whose greatest joy is simply getting up in the morning and greeting the day. There’s a love (for performing, for people) that Henson carries with him. As Bigfoot (or as Buddy the elf in Elf, Henson’s most recent Broadway credit), it’s immediately endearing.

“I am always trying to nurture [my] inner child, little Grey," Henson says thoughtfully. "I am always thinking about him and what he would need and want. And I get to do so through these parts that are so beautifully connected to their childlike selves. My superpower is in playing these types of roles that are really human, kind, generous, and authentic. I could get lost in the childlike wonder and joy of [playing Buddy]. And it is the same for Bigfoot.”

When Muddirt’s greedy, alcohol-soaked mayor (played by SNL alum Alex Moffat) plots to sell the town out from under its citizens, Bigfoot must galvanize the town. Long painted as a pariah, Bigfoot’s challenge is teaching the neighboring ladies and “gentledirters” that both he and their town are things to be cherished.

“Bigfoot affects everyone in the show the way that Buddy did,” Henson says of the parallels between the two men of myth. “Buddy ‘buddified’ the whole cast. By the end [of the show], everyone believed in Santa Claus and loved Christmas. Bigfoot wants to connect. And he connects the whole town just by being himself."

Take a closer look at Henson's transformation into Bigfoot! in the gallery below.