Jonathan Bailey will go from breaking hearts in Regency-era England to romancing Matt Bomer across four decades in a new television project.
The “Bridgerton” star has signed on to star in Showtime’s forthcoming series “Fellow Travelers.” He’ll play Tim Laughlin, a devoutly religious college graduate who catches the eye of Hawkins Fuller (Bomer), a State Department official in the 1950s. Allison Williams of HBO’s “Girls” rounds out the cast as Lucy Smith, a senator’s daughter who has known Hawkins since the two were teenagers.
Adapted from Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel, “Fellow Travelers” is billed as “an epic love story and political thriller” that follows Tim and Hawkins’ volatile and decadeslong romance.
The two men begin their relationship in secret, and later “cross paths 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,” according to press notes.
Production on the eight-episode series is set to begin in Toronto this month. A release date was not announced.
After news of their “Fellow Travelers” casting broke Monday, both Bailey and Bomer shared their enthusiasm for the project on social media.
“Epic story. Incredible team,” Bailey wrote on Instagram. “THRILLED to be on board.”
Added Bomer: “I’ve been holding this one close to the vest for a minute. I could not be more excited to be sharing the experience of ‘Fellow Travelers’ with an actor I respect and admire more than I can say.”
Best known for playing Lord Anthony Bridgerton on the Netflix smash “Bridgerton,” Bailey recently opened up to GQ about the pressure he felt to keep his sexuality private during the early days of his career.
At the time, he said he was told: “There’s two things we don’t want to know: if you’re an alcoholic or if you’re gay.”
“All it takes is for one of those people in that position of power to say that, and it ripples through,” Bailey told the publication. Eventually, he “reached a point where I thought, ‘Fuck this, I’d much prefer to hold my boyfriend’s hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that than getting a part.’”
Bomer, who has been married to Hollywood publicist Simon Halls since 2011, recently completed filming on Netflix’s “Maestro.” The film is a biopic of “West Side Story” composer Leonard Bernstein, and also stars Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan.