Russell Tovey was very nearly cast as Patrick in Looking
The History Boys star was written into the show as Kevin instead
Looking star Russell Tovey has shared that he was almost cast as Patrick in the HBO series by Andrew Haigh.
Russell, 42, starred in the series about gay men in San Francisco which aired between 2014 and 2016 as Kevin Matheson, Patrick’s (Jonathan Groff) boss turned lover.
However, it nearly turned out differently, as the actor revealed at a Q&A following a screening of Andrew’s latest work, All of Us Strangers, at the BFI on Wednesday (17 January)
Moderating the Q&A with his friend and colleague Russell enquired about how Andrew cast All of Us Strangers. Andrew said he’d never had a “bad experience” when it came to casting, checking Russell’s experience on Looking.
“I found out via Twitter that I hadn’t got the role because they put it out online” – Russell Tovey
“We did screen tests,” said Russell. “I remember there was two days where I knew it was between me and Jonathan Groff. And I would go in with a Ritchie or I’d go in with a Dom or whatever and then he’d go in with all the others and it’d be back and forth.”
The History Boys actor then shared how he found out that he hadn’t got the lead role in the series.
“I found out via Twitter that I hadn’t got the role because they put it out online and I was having a wee in the middle of the night.” Russell also recalled a conversation he had with Andrew at the time. Russell said: “I remember you saying to me ‘If it goes to series [after the pilot] we’ll write you in’.”
Touching on the response to Looking again later on in the discussion, Andrew said “A lot of people were angry with us.” He also said that “it’s hard” when there’s a negative response to something that’s very personal.
Russell previously said the response to Looking left him “broken”. He told The Independent last May: “It really, really frustrated me. It broke me, honestly. If that show came out now, it’d have a completely different response.”