Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer have been cast in the upcoming historical limited series Fellow Travelers.
Based on the 2007 novel of the same name from Thomas Mallon, the Showtime drama 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.”
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 Bomer’s character Hawkins Fuller, who “maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the-scenes” political career.
Laughlin and Fuller’s romance blossoms just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” with the series chronicling their relationship 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.”
The eight-episode limited series is created by Ron Nyswaner, who earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay in in 1993 for his work on the critically-acclaimed gay drama Philadelphia.
Bomer and Nyswaner will execuctive produce Fellow Travelers with Robbie Rogers, while Daniel Minahan will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.
The main cast also includes Girls and Get Out alum Allison Howell Williams as Lucy Smith, the daughter of a prominent US senator who has known Hawk since they were teenagers.
Bailey is best known to audiences for his role as Anthony in Netflix’s Regency-era romance drama Bridgerton, which has become the most-watched English language-series on the streamer.
The Laurence Olivier Award-winning actor’s other credits include the ITV crime drama Broadchurch, BBC satire W1A and Channel 4 comedy Crashing.
More recently, Bailey starred opposite Taron Egerton in West End’s production of Cock.
The recipient of accolades such as a Golden Globe Award and a Critics’ Choice Television Award, as well as an Emmy nomination, Bomer is notable for roles in television shows such as Tru Calling, White Collar, American Horror Story and The Sinner.
He currently plays the openly gay superhero Larry Trainor in the DC Universe series Doom Patrol.
Production on Fellow Travelers is slated to begin later this month in Toronto.
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