Today’s Hottest Insta Star Is a 65-Year-Old Gay Actor Telling Naughty Stories

He’s here. He’s dear. Get used to it: That’s what the digital influencer world is saying about Leslie Jordan, the 65-year-old actor who has been racking up the Instagram likes—including from celebrities such as Katie Couric and Taraji P. Henson—with his chatty, funny and sometimes sexy posts.

You probably know Jordan for his recurring TV appearances on American Horror Story and Will & Grace, for which won an Emmy as Beverly Leslie, Karen’s fancy, sexually ambiguous rival. The Tennessee native’s Southern drawl is the same in both the TV show and in real life, but his character couldn’t be more different. On Instagram, he’s unpretentious and silly, as well as proudly gay, the sort of entertaining gent you hope to be seated next to at every dinner party you will ever attend. Perhaps that’s why, in the months since quarantining, his followers have rocketed to 4.5 million strong.

While he might name-drop other actors (Martin Sheen patted him at an awards show, Rue McClanahan came on stage to tell him to “wrap it up”), Jordan has a twinkle in his eye and a half grin that signals he’s gossiping at his own expense as much as anyone else’s.

He’s so relatable, like when he expresses his frustration at forgetting his wallet after social distancing at the grocer’s, or when he’s doing “pillow talk,” a schtick in which he sits on his couch clutching a throw pillow while drawling about anything from overeating fried chicken to the friction between his Southern background and his sexual orientation.

Occasionally, you'll get life skills from Jordan's posts—for example, that the correct way to spell “y’all” is with an apostrophe, and that wearing two pair of Spanx is the way that movie stars should arrive to accept their Academy Awards.