Matt Bomer & Jonathan Bailey tease “explicit” gay romance ‘Fellow Travelers,’ featuring plenty of role play

Get ready for the sexiest history lesson ever.

Since it’s first announcement, we’ve been all aboard Showtime’s upcoming miniseries, Fellow Travelers—adapting Thomas Mallon’s historical fiction novel of the same name—a decades-spanning story that follows the romance between two men, from the ’50s to the ’80s.

Out actors Matt Bomer (The Normal Heart, Magic Mike) and Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton, the upcoming Wicked movies) will play the star-crossed lovers, whose relationship begins in the ’50s at the height of McCarthyism, evolves along with the queer liberation movement in the ’70s, and culminates in the ’80s during the AIDS epidemic.

If you’ve read the (excellent) source novel, you’re already aware of the story, but we’ve seen precious little of the Showtime adaptation—aside from some leaked set photos that left us soaking wet—until now.

Vanity Fair has a first-look preview of Fellow Travelers, which features equally gorgeous and sexy stills from the series, as well as some titillating quotes from Bomer and Bailey about their characters’ intense bond and “explicit” chemistry.

Bomer plays Hawkins Fuller, a charming but private political staffer and former war hero, while Bailey stars as Tim Laughlin, a recent college graduate said to be optimistic about the future post-WWII.

The pair first meet in the early days of the “Lavender Scare,” a time when Senator Joseph McCarthy was stoking fears of communism and firing anyone from the government suspected of being gay, to devastating effect. (The series title, Fellow Travelers, was a colloquial term from the era, used to describe anyone who might be sympathetic to the ideals of the communist party.)

Hawkins actually hires Tim to work for McCarthy—but with an ulterior motive, to have him spy on the senator, gathering intel on his plans in an effort to take him down. And thus begins a complicated, decades-long push-and-pull of power dynamics between the men, who are said to have a “volatile, passionate, deeply loving romance.”

“The nuance of a complicated, volatile queer relationship is the power balance—and that is what is amazing about Tim and Hawk,” Bailey shares. “Every single sex scene is a meticulous examination of power.”

As the Vanity Fair piece details, their intimate yet sweeping love story is largely told through sex, said to capture a “range of role plays” which will feel “highly authentic” to gay audiences. It sounds like we’ll be seeing a surprising amount of skin, even for a premium cable network like Showtime—series producer Robbie Rogers says he wants audiences to think, “‘Oh, wow. They really went for it.”

“I will be so interested to see how people respond to it,” Bailey adds. “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.”

Okay, wait—wait. Whew, we need a minute. This miniseries is about to be everything—bring on the history lesson!

In addition to Bomer and Bailey, the series also stars Allison Williams (Girls, M3GAN), Jelani Alladin (Tick, Tick… Boom!), Noah J. Ricketts (Summoning Sylvia), Linus Roache (Law & Order), Will Brill (The OA), and Chris Bauer (The Wire, True Blood) as McCarthy.

Fellow Travelers is set to premiere on Showtime with fall, and will stream via Paramount+. The series was written by Ron Nyswaner (My Policeman), and its first two episodes will be directed by Daniel Minahan (Six Feet Under, Game Of Thrones, Halston).