Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer thrill as forbidden lovers in first teaser for Fellow Travelers
Things are getting heated between Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in the first teaser trailer for their steamy gay political thriller Fellow Travelers.
Bridgerton heartthrob Jonathan Bailey and Magic Mike flame Matt Bomer are the iconic onscreen duo we never knew we needed.
While Bailey prepares to take on the role of Fiyero in 2024 movie Wicked and Bomer gets set for gay historical drama Maestro opposite Bradley Cooper on the life of musician Leonard Bernstein, sparks are flying for the industry titans in the first explicit teaser of their highly anticipated series Fellow Travelers.
Based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel and adapted by Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner, the eight-episode series chronicles “the volatile romance of two very different men who meet in McCarthy-era Washington”.
Bomer plays Hawkins ‘Hawk’ Fuller, a man who has a lucrative behind-the-scenes political career and tends to avoid emotional entanglements. That is until he meets Tim Laughlin (Bailey), who is described as “a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith”. The rest, as they say, is history.
The official synopsis explains that their romance begins “just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on ‘subversives and sexual deviants'”.
“Over the course of four decades [1950s to 80s], we follow our five main characters – Hawk, Tim, Marcus [Jelani Alladin] Lucy [Allison Williams], and Frankie [Noah J. Ricketts] – as they cross paths through the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fuelled disco hedonism of the 1970s and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, while facing obstacles in the world and in themselves.”
Other cast members include Linus Roache, Erin Neufer and Christine Horne.
The first teaser trailer begins with our star-crossed lovers dramatically passing one another in the corridor. As their gazes meet, we see flashes of the life they are destined to lead – one filled with stolen kisses, nights of passion, painful breakups and even imprisonment.
From the brief glimpse of the lovers lying together to the shot of Hawkins smoking while pushing Tim to the ground with his foot, fans are gagged by every scene in the clip.
CAN’T WAIT FOR THIS NEW MASTERPIECE#jonathanbailey #mattbomer #fellowtravelers pic.twitter.com/KDq4dTUeId
— ᴠᴀʟ
(@ladyvthompson) June 1, 2023
Fellow Travelers pic.twitter.com/d4DLVMkUhb
— 김만두 (@mandooheaven) June 2, 2023
JUST END MY LIFE ALREADY
#FellowTravelers pic.twitter.com/cN5fJeETN1
— Vitz
(@VitzHorror) June 1, 2023
Fellow Travelers will ruin me. It’ll break me and then mend me and then break me again. pic.twitter.com/nRvYnYhaKg
— iRis
(@iris_bee_) June 1, 2023
i’m already so wrecked and I only watched the first trailer. Help.
#FellowTravelers #jonathanbailey #mattbomer pic.twitter.com/isS9JV4Ikp
— Vitz
(@VitzHorror) June 1, 2023
Plenty are sharing their excitement at two openly gay actors playing the main gay couple – a rare occurrence in Hollywood.
Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in showtime series #FellowTravelers
Idk why no one is talking about it, two gay actors playing gay roles . . this is what we wanted, right! pic.twitter.com/fLLeOpWIgo
— SO-O-Mi-E
(@soo_mmii) June 3, 2023
The more I see of this show the more insane I get over it
#FellowTravelers pic.twitter.com/eGar7nc1r6
— sophie
|ᶠᵃⁿ ᵃᶜᶜᵒᵘⁿᵗ (@dreamer_sofie) June 1, 2023
To add to the Tim & Hawks meltdown, here is a screenshot of Marcus (Jelani Alladin) & Frankie (Noah J. Ricketts) who definitely have the potential to break hearts as well. #FellowTravelers https://t.co/tZZYq7MExw pic.twitter.com/mynIEwxZpo
— Melsan
(@Mimelsan) June 1, 2023
I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited about a TV show coming out than #FellowTravelers
This show is going to make history.
Jonathan Bailey & Matt Bomer are masters at their craft. FT producers could not have chosen better actors to lead this amazing cast
pic.twitter.com/ClGjoBjKeY
— Vitz
(@VitzHorror) May 31, 2023
The series hopes to offer an authentic portrayal of the moral panic around homosexuality that dominated the second half of the 20th century.
Speaking to Vanity Fair about the sex scenes in the show, Bailey shared: “I will be so interested to see how people respond to it. To me, being queer also is about, as two men, how you negotiate your giving of your body to the other person.
“That is something that I’ve always yearned to see properly done because I know how extraordinary it is to experience it.”
“It was really interesting to find the different types of expression of their love and intimacy over the different time periods,” Bomer added. “It was like opening a Christmas present every time I would see Jonny [Bailey] in a new time period and see what he would bring to the table with it in this new chapter of Tim’s life.”
Fellow Travelers will arrive this autumn on Paramount+ with Showtime.