Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey are opening up about that scene in Fellow Travelers when Jonathan sucks on Matt‘s toes.
During a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the guys were asked if the script actually called for Jonathan to “suck toe.”
“It was very, very precisely written down — it was as precise as it needed to be,” Jonathan said, before explaining why he had no issue with doing that scene.
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He continued, “I saw that as an incredible way to dissect power. I got it when I read it, and I wasn’t intimidated by it. I was just like, ‘If in the first episode that’s what we are doing, it’s going to be worth five months moving to Toronto, and it’s going to be a series that I would want to watch.’ Because not only is it incredibly complicated, not only is it really hot, it’s also something that masks as being provocative, but actually it’s really psychologically impactful and the people who get it get it.”
Matt chimed in and said, “I think all those scenes were a really external representation of what was going on with these characters internally, emotionally. And for me, it was really refreshing to see the gay love scenes brought to light in a really unflinching way.”
Jonathan concluded, “The shock and overwhelm and the tantalizing chemical combustion that happens seeing it — it’s a greater sensory experience because that’s exactly what it meant for Tim in that moment. It captures exactly what’s going on for Hawk and Tim, hopefully, allowing the viewer to experience a bodily reaction to it in the same way, whatever that may be.”
Executive producer and director Daniel Minahan has revealed that the scene almost didn’t happen because Matt stubbed his toe two days before filming!
“He had a big bandage on his toe. I said, ‘Well why don’t we put the other toe in Johnny’s mouth,’” he told Variety. “And then of course, in between takes, we would wash his feet. You have to think those kinds of things, especially poor Johnny, he had to do that scene a number of times.”
Have you seen the new photos of Matt at dinner with his husband?