Jake Borelli is set to star in queer Valentine’s Day movie The Thing About Harry.
The Grey’s Anatomy actor (and former Gay Times Magazine cover star) will play Sam, described as a “handsome, funny, neurotic, intelligent young gay man who combines a scathing wit with an overly idealistic worldview”.
Set to premiere on Freeform in February 2020, the movie will follow Sam as he embarks on a road trip to attend an engagement party in his small hometown in Missouri, where he faced bullying for coming out in high school.
He’s forced to make the journey with “uber-jock” rival Harry, played by newcomer Niko Terho, who’s described as “an emotional uncomplicated, promiscuous player who has always left a string of broken hearts in his wake”.
When Sam learns that Harry has come out as gay since they left high school, and the two are stuck spending the night at a roadside hotel, the potential for romance blooms.
The Thing About Harry will also star Queer Eye’s self-help guru Karamo Brown as Paul, a “well put-together yet overbearing and pretentious gay man”, and GLOW’s Britt Baron as Sam’s best friend Stasia.
Director Peter Paige, who previously starred as Emmett in the US version of Queer As Folk, will also appear in the film as Casey, Sam’s kind-hearted roommate.
“It’s been an honour to partner with Freeform in making great television with LGBTQ+ characters as leads,” The Thing About Harry executive producers Paige, Greg Gugliotta and F.J. Denny in a statement.
“True equality can only be achieved when you see yourself reflected in the movies, music and stories that paint our culture.
“As young gay men in the ’90s, whenever a rom-com opened, we would watch the leading lady fall in love and imagine what it would be like if the boy was saying all those things to another boy.
“We’ve always wanted to make a movie – an unabashedly romantic comedy – that queer boys wouldn’t have to translate. It’s rewarding to take the genre to a new, all-inclusive level.”
