Billy Eichner Reveals Shirley MacLaine’s ‘Secret to Living Long’ but Admits He ‘Never’ Tried It (Exclusive)

Billy Eichner obtained the secret to a long, healthy life, courtesy of Shirley MacLaine.

The Oscar-winning legend, who turned 90 in April, starred with Eichner, 46, in the 2019 Christmas movie Noelle. As the actor-comedian tells PEOPLE, “It’s a little-seen holiday film with a great cast.”

Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir and Julie Hagerty were among the film’s “amazing” ensemble, says Eichner. “And friggin’ Shirley MacLaine, who told me the secret to living long.”

As the Billy on the Street creator notes, MacLaine is “like in her 90s now.” Her key to longevity? “To put a drop of oil of oregano under your tongue every day,” he says. 

Seth Rogen, the Pumbaa to Eichner’s Timon in Mufasa: The Lion King, chimes in to ask his costar if MacLaine’s advice was followed: “Do you do that?”

“I bought it, but I never did it,” confesses Eichner. 

Rogen, 42, counts his 2015 comedy The Night Before, costarring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie, as a favorite holiday film. “I’m reminded by how many people actually found that movie because I’m constantly getting tagged in people’s Instagram posts in the weeks leading up to Christmas, which is nice,” he says. 

“I remember when we made the movie we were like, ‘We want to make a movie that people watch every year around the holidays.’ And we sort of succeeded in that.”

Another instant holiday classic that comes to mind: Eichner’s 2015 Christmas-themed Billy on the Street segment filmed with Will Ferrell on the streets of Manhattan. “We shot in the middle of July,” recalls Eichner. “It was 90 degrees, such a humid New York summer day, and we are in wool Christmas onesies, giving out Christmas gifts.”

The two comedians were “sweating so much,” he adds, that they ran into an electronics store to escape the heat. “And Will, I’m not kidding, just took off the onesie and was like in his underwear. It was like a scene out of a Will Ferrell movie.”

Director Barry Jenkins’ Mufasa: The Lion King is in theaters now. It stars Aaron Pierre as Mufasa and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Taka, a.k.a. Scar, plus the voices of Donald Glover, Beyoncé, Blue Ivy Carter, John Kani, Tiffany Boone, Anika Noni Rose, Mads Mikkelsen and more.