Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer are about to become entangled in an epic love story against a devastating political backdrop.
The “Fellow Travelers” limited series begins in 1952 with the night Dwight D. Eisenhower is elected president. Matt Bomer plays the handsome and charismatic Hawkins Fuller, who maintains a financially rewarding behind-the-scenes career in politics during McCarthy-era Washington. Hawkins avoids emotional entanglements until he meets Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), a young man full of idealism and religious faith. They strike up a romance just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn wage war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” ushering in one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history, according to the official synopsis.
Over the course of four decades, audiences follow the five main characters – Hawk, Tim, Marcus (Jelani Alladin), Lucy (Allison Williams), and Frankie (Noah J. Ricketts) – as they navigate the protests of the 1960s Vietnam War , the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 70s and the AIDS crisis of the 80s, facing obstacles in the world and in themselves.
“Fellow Travellers” was created by Academy Award nominee Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia,” “Homeland”) and is based on Thomas Mallon’s romantic political thriller.
Showrunner Nyswaner and leading lady Bomer are executive producers with Robbie Rogers. Daniel Minahan serves as executive producer and directs the first two episodes. The series is co-produced by Fremantle with Showtime.
actor Bailey said Vanity Fair who was waiting for a role like “Fellow travellers”.
“My response was always, ‘Well, I’d love to do a rousing gay romance,’ but my experience really was that I’d never really seen them,” Bailey said. “Or if I had, I hadn’t seen actors like Matt and I play those roles.”
The ‘Bridgerton’ alum added: ‘The nuance of a complicated and volatile queer relationship is the balance of power — and that’s what’s amazing about Tim and Hawk. Every single sex scene is a meticulous examination of power I’ll be so interested to see how people react. For me, being queer also means, as two men, how you negotiate your donation of your body to the other person. It’s something I’ve always wanted to see done properly because I know how amazing it is live it.
“Fellow Travelers” is coming soon to Paramount+ with Showtime. Check out the teaser below.
