HBO entered the world of queer serial drama with Looking, the angst-soaked, sexually-liberated, drama about a group of gay men living and loving in San Francisco. And like so many gay men in San Francisco, Looking came in and out of our lives and we don’t feel entirely satisfied. There is still something missing. (Missing great queer serialized drama? Check out Logo’s Cucumber & Banana.)
Related Post: 17 Reasons Looking Was TVs-Sexiest Show
The show was cancelled after two seasons, but all is not lost for fans of the show: HBO announced that they are bringing the cast back for a final 2-hour movie, which will film later this year.
Until that hits TV screens, there are plenty of places to catch up with the cast members…
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Jonathon Groff
Groff (Patrick) is a busy boy these days. Although he could spend his days lounging on a mattress stuffed with cash he’s making from being the voice of “Kristoff” in Frozen, Groff has returned to his roots in live theater. He performed in a one-night-only, concert-style production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying in London, and our sources confirm, Groff will come back to ‘Murica and return to Broadway to play the supporting role of King George in Hamilton, opening July 13 at the Richard Rogers Theater. Groff played the role earlier this year off-Broadway, when the show ran for a few months to great critical acclaim. Hamilton is going to be a big deal, y’all. Everybody in the NYC musical theatre world is talking about it. Cher saw it, and it made her cry, so that’s all the endorsement that we need. Get your tickets now.
Frankie J. Alvarez
Alvarez (Agustín) is bouncing all around TV shows these days, making appearances in such shows as Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, and Law and Order: SVU. We can barely contain our jealousy over his chance to be on the set of SVU, in the same room as Mariska Hargitay and perhaps shake her hand, the same hand that touched Christopher Meloni once upon a time.
Daniel Franzese
Daniel Franzese (Eddie), who will live in our hearts forever as “too gay too function” gay high schooler “Damian” in Mean Girls, is quite the YouTube celeb: he has his own channel, as well as makes appearances in videos by friends including song parodies by Adrian Anchondo and Todrick Hall. His YouTube success means he probably has more fans than all of the rest of the cast combined, so hopefully he’s making some money somehow. Franzese also writes a column for Attitude, the excellent U.K.-based gay men’s magazine, in which he shares his thoughts about life, body image, Christianity, and other such musings.
O.T. Fagbenle
Fagbenle (Frank) landed the starring role in the BBC crime thriller The Interceptor, which will launch sometime later in 2015. Clips of Fagbenle’s handsome rugged mug appear on this “teaser trailer” for the upcoming TV shows, which also include all the British shows like Strictly Come Dancing and The Voice that were brought over here and are now the backbone of the American TV lineup. We in America make nothing for ourselves anymore. What happened to our country? Thanks Obama. J/k.
Things aren’t looking as good for Russell Tovey (Kevin). Not only was Looking cancelled, but he was also in a BBC show, Banished, that got the ax. Not that the LGBT community is terribly concerned either way about Tovey’s career after he made some unfortunate comments praising his own masculinity as being superior to “effeminate” gays. Not nice. There are lots of actors with sexy swagger like Ms. Tovey, but are also not dicks, so we’ll just, y’know, go look at them instead and not worry about it.
We have loved Murray Bartlett (Dom) since his turn on Sex And The City as Oliver, the gay shoe distributor who took Carrie to the nightclub where you needed a key to get in, but then ignored her all night so she left and went home to Aiden. (It was a very memorable episode!) Alas, reps for DILF Bartlett did not return requests for comment on his whereabouts, but we imagine he is somewhere lounging by a swimming pool, adorned with nothing but nylon short-shorts and hickeys from men half his age. Of course, if we knew where he is, we could make ourselves available to help him comb his perfect moustache. And of course, perhaps that is why he is hiding from us. Regardless, we wish him the best.
Lauren Weedman
Weedman (Doris) generally stole every scene in Looking that gave her screen time, thanks to a quick wit and high-octane personality. She has toured the U.S. performing solo shows, which are a mix of stand-up comedy/story-telling/random music interludes, and are branded as “improv” but seem to be more “saying whatever pops into her head in the moment.” She most recently closed her solo show The People’s Republic of Portland in Portland, Ore., after stops in Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Albequerque, and list goes on. Having developed a loyal base of gay fans, if she takes an aggressive approach with her on-stage persona, she could be the next Kathy Griffin.
Speaking of theatre: Raúl Castillo (Richie), a well-known regular in the Chicago theatre scene, wrote the play Between You, Me & the Lampshade, which just closed at the rather fancy Victory Gardens Theatre in the Windy City.
IvanPH
I guess because of the writer’s utter hatred with Tovey, he failed to mention that Tovey’s sitcom The Job Lot will actually be returning for a third season. Also, a quick look at IMDB and you’ll notice that Tovey had TV and movie roles more than any of his fellow actors in Looking. With such an impressive resume, i don’t think it would be hard for him to get new roles.
Anyway, hate all you want, Queerty. As if Tovey cares.
Ditamo
Why do you guys hate Tovey so much? Give it a rest. There are people out there that have said and done way worse things. Everyone in the world at some point or another says things that come from misconceptions, biases, fears, and internalized: homophobia, racism, and other prejudices. No one is perfect. As you said, what he said was unfortunate, however it doesn’t make him a heinous person, desiring ill will upon him.
Anthony Bryan Hilton
Look for them in the unemployment line or casting for another horrible stereotypical gay show
Salv Granada
Echo de menos Looking, quiero una 3 temporada
SportGuy
@Anthony Bryan Hilton: Exactly! Hopefully they wont end up on another so called gay show that is not representative of the entire community! Glad that it crashed and burned.
Kangol
Good to hear that that cutie Fagbenle (what a name) has a new gig. So typical that he was written off the show and the remaining black character (though Bashir Salahuddin was so hot–what about him?) was a STRAIGHT man. I really want to see one of that sexy Raúl Castillo’s plays. And please, some director out there, let Daniel Franzese have his own show that involves periodic nudity. Woof!
I wish someone would bring DTLA back. It is on Netflix, though.
Taskebab
They will have a lovely career being discussed almost daily on queerty despite the show Being cancelled ages ago and everybody has moved on…except off course poor old sad old queerty writers… What else do they have now that they don’t have boring white gays who do literally nothing interesting on their tv every week?
Clark35
Queety can’t let go that this horrible show full of boring and tiresome gay male stereotypes was canceled.
McShane
@Kangol: Bashir Salahuddin is one of the executive producers and stars of “Brothers In Atlanta” an upcoming show on HBO. He’s is way beyond, so hot. That man is next level, hot. The radiating area of a quasar, hot.
lykeitiz
Where To Look Next For The Stars Of ‘Looking’ — On the pages of Queerty, of course!
Xzamilio
All you have to do is be anti-gay or say something self-hating gay man — or be a known closet case — and be HOT… and Queerty will dedicate article upon article to you. Aaron Schock, Colton Haynes, Paul Ryan, and of course, Russell Tovey. It’s almost as if the rejection turns them on.
martinbakman
@IvanPH: @Ditamo: Tovey is awesome. His comments did not bother me, and either way he’s good.
Sansacro
@martinbakman: Tovey will be fine. Worked a lot before, and will work again.
Sansacro
@SportGuy: And what would a show look like that is representative of the “entire” gay community (whatever that is)? What straight show (99.9999% of offerings) is actually representative of the entire straight community? Sound like art via focus group. The worst.
Daveliam
Gotta love the sheer hypocrisy that comes along with the author’s hatred of Tovey.
Let me get this straight, Tovey is maligned for supposedly insulting feminine gay men. So queerty responds by insulting him by calling him ‘Ms. Tovey’?
YouGoGurl
@martinbakman: While I never found Tovey physically attractive, I think he’s a talent and folks have said a lot worse with a lot less backlash. Not to mention, he’s entitled to his opinion, one that many, many, MANY gay men subscribe to. Queerty writers do not generate their own news and generally have nothing of substance to write about — and given the pieces written for the site, it appears they don’t have much experience in writing much in general, so they have little choice but to toss any journalistic neutrality out the window. My guess is that Tovey’s ‘effeminate’ comment hit just a little too close to home for these glorified mommy bloggers.
sssssss
Wow the person who wrote this is a total asshole. I guess you forgot Tovey is doing the job lot, but that would require you to do actual work. How about keeping your own personal hatred for a person to yourself. Don’t like how they used his personal opinion to just shit on him and his career. They should be after people who are actually a threat instead of a man who seem to be like a role model for this generation. To show that there are many different types of gay men out there, that are not just in porn. Russell said that growing up he didn’t have role models that were gay because there weren’t that many, or there weren’t any that was outspoken like what we have now. I also don’t think that it’s okay to blame him for the cancelation of those shows. He had two successful shows that went on for years. He was very active on social media promoting both Looking and Banished.