Golden Globe-winning actor Matt Bomer was attached to play closeted Washington, D.C., politico Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller, in a limited series adaptation of Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel “Fellow Travelers,” for several years until Bomer, screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (“Philadelphia”) and producer Robbie Rogers finally found a home for the epic gay love story at Showtime.
Their patience and belief in the profound, sexually bold project paid off big time. The show, acclaimed for its authentic and heartbreaking look at the complexities of gay life from the homophobic Joseph McCarthy-led Lavender Scare of the 1950s to the 1980s AIDS crisis, went on to notch nominations and/or wins in the Critics’ Choice Awards, the GLAAD Media Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the People’s Choice Awards, among others. More recently, the series earned three Emmy nominations, including nods for lead actor Bomer; supporting actor Jonathan Bailey, who movingly portrays Hawk’s longtime love, Tim Laughlin; and creator-showrunner Nyswaner, for his writing of the pilot episode, “You’re Wonderful.
” Earlier this month, The Envelope took a leisurely hike with Bomer in L.A.’s Bronson Canyon, where the warm and relaxed film and TV star (“White Collar,” the “Magic Mike” movies, “Maestro”) talked about his deep commitment to “Fellow Travelers,” the journey to seeing it made and the candor of its sexual content.
You were committed to this project from the start, long befo.