Set against the backdrop of an incredibly turbulent time in American history, including McCarthyism, the Vietnam War and the AIDS crisis, one would be forgiven for thinking that Fellow Travelers, starring Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey as lovers Hawkins Fuller and Timothy Laughlin, wouldn’t be the most sexy of TV dramas out at the moment.
Well, that’s where you’d be wrong.
In fact, to put it politely, the miniseries features many instances of bed-shaking, earth-shattering and fairly graphic sex scenes between its two leads, including instances of Matt’s character asking Jonathan who his “good boy” is (!!!) and an entire scene dedicated to toe-sucking.
It was during the filming of that very toe-sucking scene that one particular “problem” arose on set, as producer Daniel Minahan, who also directed the episode in question, has revealed.
Amidst a more serious conversation about the power dynamics of queer sex with Variety, the director shared that Matt thought he had broken his toes just before filming the intimate scene.
“Behind the scenes, there was a bit of a problem,” Daniel recalled. “Two days before filming, Bomer stubbed his toe and thought it was broken.
“He had a big bandage on his toe. I said, ‘Well, why don’t we put the other toe in Johnny’s mouth’.”
And yes, in case you were wondering, Jonathan’s feet were washed between takes.
“You have to think [about] those kinds of things, especially poor Johnny – he had to do that scene a number of times,” Daniel shared.
The miniseries spans four decades of American history through the lens of central couple Hawkins and Timothy’s relationship, and charts how queer people were perceived and treated throughout the 20th century.
The first episode of Fellow Travelers is available to stream now on Paramount+, with new episodes coming every Saturday.