Paramount Plus has shared the first official teaser for Fellow Travelers.
The historical gay drama, based on the novel of the same name from Thomas Mallon, is described as “an epic love story and political thriller, chronicling the volatile romance of two very different men who meet in the shadow of McCarthy-era Washington.”
Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey will play Tim Laughlin, a “young man brimming with idealism and religious faith” who is optimistic about a post-WWII world.
His life changes when he meets Matt Bomer’s character Hawkins Fuller, who “maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the-scenes” political career.
The official synopsis reads: “They begin a romance just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” initiating one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history.
“Over the course of four decades, we follow our five main characters – Hawk, Tim, Marcus Lucy, and Frankie – as they cross paths through the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, while facing obstacles in the world and in themselves.”
Directed by Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner, the eight-episode drama also stars Jelani Alladin (The Walking Dead: World Beyond) as Marcus, Allison Williams (Get Out) as Lucy and Noah J. Ricketts (American Gods) as Frankie.
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Bomer and Nyswaner will execuctive produce Fellow Travelers with Robbie Rogers, while Daniel Minahan will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Bomer and Bailey discussed the series and its powerful story. The former revealed that Fellow Travelers was “marinating with Ron for a solid decade before I ever came on board”.
“Ron had an almost religious zeal about this project, this world and these characters that just washed over everyone involved, and made it the profound experience that it was.”
Bailey opened up about the series’ intense and emotional sex scenes, which he described as a “meticulous examination of power.”
“The nuance of a complicated, volatile queer relationship is the power balance – and that is what is amazing about Tim and Hawk,” he explained.
Bomer added: “There’s a level of trust and intimacy that’s even more valuable when society is against you. You keep your secrets together.”
Fellow Travelers will premiere on Paramount Plus later this Autumn – watch the first teaser trailer here or below.
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