Fellow Travelers’ writer knew ‘within minutes’ to cast Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer
Exclusive: "Matt is perfection and so is Jonny and we knew that," Ron Nyswaner has told Attitude
The writer of Showtime’s gay romance-drama, Fellow Travelers, has said that producers knew “within minutes” that they had to cast Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in the lead roles.
The series sees the two openly gay actors portray lovers over a 30-year time period, starting in the 1950s and ending in the 1980s.
Speaking exclusively to Attitude ahead of the series’ release, Ron Nyswaner, said that he couldn’t imagine anyone else but Bailey and Bomer as Tim Laughlin and Hawkins Fuller respectively.
While Bomer came on early as executive producer three years ago, Bailey wasn’t found until much later.
“You always want to see actors together when the relationship is at the center,” Nyswaner spoke of the casting process. “Matt is perfection and so is Jonny and we knew that,” the Philadelphia writer continued.
“We did a chemistry read except Matt was in LA and Jonny was in London. They were on Zoom pretending to be sitting next to each other on a park bench. And even with thousands of miles between them within minutes we knew we have to see these two guys together,” Nyswaner shared.
“And Matt and Jonny liked each other immediately and that really, I think, helped our show.”
Casting queer actors in queer roles also improved the authenticity of the series, Nyswaner later explained. He said the actors’ gay experiences provided them with a “shorthand” for playing the nuances of each scene.
“Just understanding what it’s like to desire another man and how you might hide that desire,” Nyswaner went on to say. “Even today, we still have to sometimes be careful about expressing our desire for other people. So they understood that.”
Read Attitude’s full interview with Ron Nyswaner here.
Fellow Travelers is streaming on Showtime and Paramount+ now.