Fellow Travelers is an American historical television miniseries based on the 2007 fictional novel of the same name by Thomas Mallon. Starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, it centres on the decades-long romance between two men who first meet during the height of McCarthyism in the 1950s.
Thomas Mallon
Thomas Mallon born November 2, 1951 is an American novelist, essayist, and critic. His novels are renowned for their attention to historical detail and context and for the author’s crisp wit and interest in the “bystanders” to larger historical events. He is the author of ten books of fiction, including Henry and Clara, Two Moons, Dewey Defeats Truman, Aurora 7, Bandbox, Fellow Travelers, Watergate, Finale, Landfall, and most recently Up With the Sun. He has also published nonfiction on plagiarism (Stolen Words), diaries (A Book of One’s Own), letters (Yours Ever) and the Kennedy assassination (Mrs. Paine’s Garage), as well as two volumes of essays (Rockets and Rodeos and In Fact).
Openly gay, Mallon currently lives with his longtime partner, William Bodenschatz, in Washington, DC, and is a professor emeritus of English at The George Washington University. He once described himself as a “supposed literary intellectual/homosexual/Republican.” During the 2016 election he was actively involved in “Scholars and Writers Against Trump,” a group of disaffected conservatives. He left the Republican Party in November 2016.
Production
Created by Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia, Homeland), based on the novel by Thomas Mallon, FELLOW TRAVELERS is an epic love story and political thriller, chronicling the volatile romance of two very different men who meet in McCarthy-era Washington. Matt Bomer plays handsome, charismatic Hawkins Fuller, who maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the scenes career in politics. Hawkins avoids emotional entanglements – until he meets Tim Laughlin (Jonathan Bailey), a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith. They begin a romance just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” initiating one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history.
Plot
Over the course of four decades, 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-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, while facing obstacles in the world and in themselves.
Cast
Main
- Matt Bomer as Hawkins Fuller
- Jonathan Bailey as Tim Laughlin
Supporting
- Allison Williams as Lucy Smith
- Jelani Alladin as Marcus Hooks
- Noah J. Ricketts as Frankie Hines
- Linus Roache as Senator Wesley Smith
- Will Brill as Roy Cohn
- Chris Bauer as Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
- Erin Neufer as Mary Johnson
- Matt Visser as David Schine
- Christine Horne as Jean Kerr
- David Tomlinson as Eddie Kofler
Development
A television adaptation of Mallon’s work was in development as a co-production from Fremantle for Showtime as of October 2021. Showtime officially greenlit the series in April 2022, with the screenplay written by Ron Nyswaner who also serves as executive producer. Other executive producers include Daniel Minahan, who is directing the first two episodes.
Casting
Alongside the greenlight announcement in April 2022, it was announced Matt Bomer would executively produce the series and star as Hawkins Fuller. Allison Williams joined the cast in June as Lucy Smith. It was announced in July that Jonathan Bailey would star opposite Bomer as Tim Laughlin.
Filming
Principal photography began in Toronto on July 27, 2022 and wrapped on December 9, 2022.
Fellow Travelers (Opera)
Fellow Travelers is an opera in 16 scenes composed by Gregory Spears to a libretto by Greg Pierce, based on Thomas Mallon’s 2007 novel Fellow Travelers. A co-commission by Cincinnati Opera and G. Sterling Zinsmeyer, the opera was developed by Opera Fusion: New Works, a collaboration between Cincinnati Opera and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music which focuses on the creation of new American operas. Fellow Travelers premiered at Cincinnati Opera in June 2016 and was presented by the Lyric Opera of Chicago in March 2018, the Minnesota Opera in June 2018, and Boston Lyric Opera in November 2019.
Where to See
Fellow Travelers coming to Showtime Fall 2023 as of 08/17/2023
