Actor Matt Bomer has announced his next big project, and as they say in Hollywood, it’s a doozy. Bomer will star and produce a new gay political thriller series for Showtime.
Fellow Travelers, based on Thomas Mallon’s fabulous best-selling novel, will chronicle the life of Hawkins Fuller, a top political operative in Washington DC during the McCarthy/Blacklist era. Fuller has a thriving career sans any romantic entanglements until he meets Tim Laughlin, a handsome, religious Washington newcomer.
Laughlin and Fuller cannot deny their attraction to one another, but when Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn (who was gay himself) vow to rub out sexual deviants in the government, the two lovers face total ruin to stay together. The show will span more than 20 years, from the McCarthy Era, through the Vietnam War of the ’60s and ’70s, and into the 1980s, when the AIDS crisis ravaged the LGBTQ community.
Related: Are Matt Bomer and Bradley Cooper about to become a couple?
Ron Nyswaner, the Oscar-nominated writer of Philadelphia, will adapt Fellow Travelers for the screen. Daniel Minahan, director of Halston, will helm the first two episodes of the show. Minahan and Robbie Rodgers will executive produce as well.
“As a thrilling and deeply moving exploration of character and American life in the latter half of the past century, Fellow Travelers shines an unprecedented light on stories that are as urgent today as ever,” Showtime Networks entertainment president Jana Winograd said in a statement.
“The series delivers us directly into an insider world of Washington rife with national consequences while drawing out the intimate moments that are profoundly personal and often heartbreaking. We are beyond thrilled to have Ron, Matt, Robbie, and Daniel take us on this suspenseful and romantic journey.”
Showtime has yet to announce a start date for filming or a release date.
In honor of Mr. Bomer’s new drama, check out some of our favorite shots from his Instagram.
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MacAdvisor
“Roy Cohn (who was gay himself).”
NO. Gay is the very last thing Roy Cohn was. He was a homosexual, but not gay.
BennyTheHill
Roy Cohn always claimed that he was a “straight man who f–ked men.” Which was a ridiculous statement, to say the least.
By the ’70s, he had rehabilitated his reputation as he became besties with celebrities connected with Studio 54: Barbara Walters, Liza Minelli, Jerry Hall, Bianca Jagger, Warhol, Halston, Calvin Klein, and Steve Rubell.
Just proves: When you’re rich and famous, your previous behavior and politics are overlooked and ignored by the A-Listers.
white-queer-african
Miss F*cking Know It All! Sometimes I am intrigued by your knowledge of anything remotely theatrical or the early days of the gay scene in NYC. And then you come along and f*ck it all up by spewing your shit supporting the GOF party. What is wrong with you gurl? The GOF hates all gay folk. Can’t you see it? Then again you a Fake Tits Twit Troll.
BennyTheHill
white-queer-african: I guess I rent a LOT of space in your brain. 🙂
bachy
I have always marveled at Matt Bomer! What must it be like to be so gifted? He’s intelligent (obviously), super-talented, a superior physical specimen, has a net worth of $11 million and an out gay man sought after by the biggest players in the entertainment industry. The stars must have really been in alignment when that dude was born!
JPB
I read the book a couple of years ago – glad it’s being filmed. Glad also that Matt Bomer is to star in it. He is perfect for the role of the charismatic Fuller. As crazy as the political scene is today, the McCarthy era was without doubt a joyless time.
Seth
You lost me at “religious Washington…” I’ve no interest in reading stories about self-loathing members of a 1st-century blood cult finding love.