Thirty seconds into our Zoom call, Bowen Yang waves off a compliment. “Don’t look too closely,” he demurs when I point out his artfully decorated bookshelf. “Half this stuff I haven’t even read.” It’s a small window, but at that moment, I understand why every writer, costar, and industry peer makes a point of calling out the comedian’s authentic charm. He’s warm, disarmingly humble, and gloriously silly despite his meteoric success. I didn’t want to fall into the “[Insert star] is so down to earth!” trope, but I can confirm: He absolutely is all of the above. Meet your heroes, fellow readers, Kayteighs, and publicists (loyal listeners of his “Las Culturistas” podcast, for the uninitiated). Sometimes, it works out.

It tracks that someone this lovely would genuinely grapple with whether or not to share their glowy-skin secrets with the group chat. In Estée Lauder’s “Guilty as Skin” campaign, Yang heads to a therapy session with SNL alum Ana Gasteyer, where he agonizes over whether to divulge his latest find: the quick-absorbing Advanced Night Repair Serum. With its exclusive “night peptide” that optimizes the skin’s natural circadian rhythm, it leaves the complexion firmer, smoother, and more even-toned within three sleeps. To gatekeep or not to gatekeep?

It’s tongue-in-cheek, but again, I do believe someone with a heart like Yang’s would earnestly confront the dilemma. This is, after all, someone who responded with immediate support (“It’s totally fine”) after Renée Rapp told him that her driver accidentally hit SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels with his car. And when she later revealed the whole thing was a prank: “Oscar for that.” During our short conversation, he approached each of my questions with the same careful consideration—even when I asked what beauty products Pfannee from Wicked would stockpile in his bathroom cabinet. Or the Titanic Iceberg. Or Mary Todd Lincoln. (T-minus one week until his Oh, Mary! debut!)

Read on for our full conversation, including Yang’s late-night skincare routine, the most surprising part about portraying Mary Todd, and his Las Culturistas Culture Award for “Best Beauty Moment of the Year.”

In Estee Lauder’s “Guilty as Skin” campaign, you’re struggling with whether or not to gatekeep your skincare secret from the group chat. I’m curious, do you and your friends often swap beauty recs, and are there any products in your current routine that you picked up because a friend put you onto them?