Much like in Fight Club, it was important for everyone to remember the rules when filming the sex scenes on Fellow Travelers.
Showrunner Ron Nyswaner told Entertainment Weekly that he had two very specific rules when filming the sex scenes between Matt Bomer (as Hawkins Fuller) and Jonathan Bailey (as Tim Laughlin). These rules were additional layers to choreographing the scenes and having intimacy coordinators on set at all times.
Nyswaner’s first rule was quoting queer poet Oscar Wilde, “Everything in the world is about sex except sex. Sex is about power.”
“The [second] rule was that we wouldn’t do the same sexual act more than once, or the same combination,” he explained. “I remember when we were writing episode eight, my co-writers and I said, ‘What haven't we done?’”
Later in the interview, executive producer Daniel Minahan chimed in about directing the first episode of Fellow Travelers and setting the tone for the rest of the series – particularly when it came to how these two characters behaved in bed. He explained:
“What I was going for in those first two hours was this idea of Tim, who’s not particularly sexually experienced, having this almost transcendent experience with Hawk which imprints on him.”
Minahan added, “[Tim] becomes almost obsessive about his attachment, but whether Hawk is in love with the power that he has over him or actually has this love for him, is part of the tension of the piece. His life and sexuality [are] so compartmentalized. It’s like, this is when I do sex, this is when I’m at work, this is when I have my girlfriend.”
Judging by the scenes that have already been released, we’re expecting some explosive action between Bomer and Bailey!
Fellow Travelers premieres October 27 on Showtime.