Golden Globe-winning actor Matt Bomer was attached to play gay Washington, D.C. politician Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller in a limited series adaptation of Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel “Fellow Travelers” for several years until Bomer, screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia”) and producer Robbie Rogers finally found a home for the epic gay love story on Showtime.
Their patience and faith in this profound and sexually audacious project paid off. The show, hailed for its authentic and harrowing look at the complexities of gay life—from the homophobic 1950s Lavender Scare directed by Joseph McCarthy to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s—earned nominations and/or wins at the Critics' Choice Awards, the GLAAD Media Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the People's Choice Awards, among others.
Most recently, the series earned three Emmy nominations, including nods for lead actor Bomer; supporting actor Jonathan Bailey, who poignantly portrays Hawk's longtime love Tim Laughlin; and creator and showrunner Nyswaner, for his writing of the pilot episode, “You're Wonderful.”
Earlier this month, The Envelope took a leisurely hike with Bomer in Bronson Canyon in Los Angeles, where the warm and laid-back film and TV star (“White Collar,” the “Magic Mike” films, “Maestro”) discussed his deep commitment to “Fellow Travelers,” the trip he took to see it and the frankness of its sexual content.
You were committed to this project from the beginning, long before an agreement was signed. What made you take such a big step?
I got it already [the book] Within a couple of days I fell in love with the characters and the world of the play. At that point it was just a book, but Ron had given me some pointers on what he planned to do with the show. I've always been a fan of his writing. He really understands dimension, light and shadow in characters, which is essential for the episodes. [TV] In these times. It was one of those novels that taught me without feeling like I was being taught.
Jonathan Bailey, left, and Matt Bomer face social rejection in “Fellow Travelers.”
(Ben Mark Holzberg/Showtime)
Why do you think the series was ultimately greenlit at Showtime?
The writing was actually Ron's. It was so powerful and so undeniable that I think they knew they had something that could be really special.
We were so grateful to partner with Showtime and Fremantle. These executives were giving the most glowing stories. Normally, these stories are about cutting back or doing something smaller. But they were like, “No, go further, go all the way, and then we’ll see if you need to go back.” That’s a dream scenario for a creative.
Were you worried that Hawk, who is often a selfish and deceitful character, would be seen as too unsympathetic?
No. I was really excited that there was an unsympathetic gay character in the lead role. I had watched my fellow actors, who I love and admire, play these nuanced, seemingly really nasty, shady lead characters for years, and it was really nice to see a character from the LGBTQIA+ community written that way. But I think you're always your character's defense attorney.
How did you approach the role of such a complicated and dualistic character?
It's impossible to be objective about it, even now. I always saw him as a survivor. The game he's playing has the highest possible stakes, and if something is going to compromise that, he's going to make an executive decision that may not be the most pleasant, but it's what he has to do to survive. [in his world, at that time]You have to remember that he is someone who lived through a war and saw his entire platoon die. He understands life and death, and also what it is like to live on the edge, in a way that most of us cannot even imagine.
These executives were giving the most brilliant notes. Normally, these notes are about cutting back or making something smaller. But they were like, “No, take it further, go all the way, and then we'll see if you need to go back.” That's a dream scenario for a creative.
—Matt Bomer
There's been a lot of talk about the show's frank and explicit sex scenes. Were there times when you (or perhaps you and Jonathan Bailey) felt that maybe not as much “liveliness” was needed? Or maybe even more?
Honestly, I was just trying to be in the moment and not dissociate, which I've done in the past in scenes like that. But because the scenes were so focused on the performance, and because Jonny and I were comfortable and trusted each other and knew each other's boundaries, I feel like we were able to play in the moment and I was able to really be present in my body.
Still, there was a clear purpose, an arc, so to speak, to the sex scenes.
The characters [Hawk and Tim] They were never the same after those scenes as they were before, and I think that's the sign of knowing when a scene like that is integral to the story. It was actually the only time in both of their lives that they could feel truly liberated, because of the different way they related to each other. [each] They responded to their social conditioning and managed to find a kind of common therapeutic way of relating in the bedroom that, in a strange way, allowed both of them to have their moments of greatest freedom.
Do you think the series is even more relevant today than when you first read the source material?
Yes. I am very grateful that a program like this can exist in our world. It is so easy to look around us now and see how fragile our democracy is and how quickly we take our rights for granted and they can be taken away from us.
