In 2013, the HBO original series Looking, a show
about a close group of gay men living in San Francisco, began filming.
Marriage equality was not yet legal in California, let alone
nationwide. Fast forward two seasons and one movie later and
Looking will close its final chapter this summer as marriage equality is the law of the land. In anticipation of the premiere of
Looking: The Movie this Saturday, July 23, OUT held a roundtable with the
Looking cast and crew. Actors Jonathan Groff, Murray Bartlett,
Frankie J. Alvarez, Daniel Franzese, and Raúl Castillo and creator
Michael Lannan all sat down to discuss the HBO show that changed their
lives.
A select portion of the Q&A from OUT’s exclusive discussion with the
Looking team follows. Find the full roundtable discussion on OUT.com.
OUT: How did you get involved in Looking?
Daniel Franzese (Eddie): During Season 1, my friend asked me if I was watching
Looking. I told her there weren’t really guys like me on a show like that. But she said,
Why don’t you be the guy? I said, It doesn’t really work like that. Then we had this whole conversation about manifest destiny. I found out that the casting director for
Looking was Carmen Cuba who had discovered me for my first movie, Larry Clark’s Bully. I sent her some photos of me and said,
Hey, if you ever want to put a bear on the show... I don’t even
know what made me do that. I’ve never done that to anybody before. They
were already looking for a bear character and Carmen brought me up to
Michael and Andrew. They said,
Yeah, he’s perfect. It was unusual that it happened like that,
but no one in the writer’s room thought of anyone else. I got breakfast
with Andrew and he pitched me the role. I did a screen test and got the
part. I was meant to play Eddie. It changed
my life.
OUT: Was there any hesitation being an openly gay man taking on a gay role?
Jonathan Groff (Patrick): At the audition I
broke into a sweat. The first scene I did was the Richie-Patrick scene
on the train. I started blushing and sweating. In that moment, I
realized that the show would be about very personal
things, about being gay. I felt a little nervous because it was
vulnerable. The sex, the relationships, the friendships—it all felt real
to me. I was excited, but a little sweaty about it. It was so real to
life.
Franzese: I look for scripts that are non-discriminating and forward-moving in the genre. I was scared to take Damian in
Mean Girls, but then when I read it and saw how he wasn’t being
made fun of and was himself and wasn’t ridiculed for his size. That’s
why I wanted to play him. Regardless of coming out or not, it took a
long time to find a gay role that was going to
be just as forward-moving as Damian.
OUT: And was there any hesitation being an openly straight man taking on a gay role?
Frankie J. Alvarez (Agustín): A lot of
masculinity on screen is the Ray Donovan type, the strong silent guys
who hold everything in. What was really attractive about this project is
that these characters weren’t like that. They needed
each other. There was a vulnerability and an openness. I had a lot in
common with that way of operating. The fact that Agustín was gay was
inconsequential. It’s not the first gay character I’ve played and
probably won’t be the last. If people found out I was
straight after watching the show and were surprised then that meant I
did a good job. That was the benchmark for me.
OUT: Were you satisfied with the series ending after Season 2 or was
Looking: The Movie a necessary conclusion?
Groff: I didn’t realize how unfinished the
story was until I read the screenplay of the movie. When they told us we
were going to do a film, I was excited we got to go back and say
goodbye. But another part of me was like,
What? How are they going to take what we did over a large stretch of time in a season and condense it to 90 minutes?
But then, when I read the screenplay, I remembered that the people
writing this show are filmmakers and they know how to tell the story
in film format, that’s actually their wheelhouse. When I read the
screenplay, it sort of dawned on me how unfinished the show was.
OUT: Being 10 or so years apart in age can
lead to a vastly different experience growing up gay. How did Looking
illuminate the generation gap in the gay community?
Franzese: I came out in 2014, 10 years from when Mean Girls
came out. The difference in the climate, politics, equality, is
drastic. It’s interesting the movie is about a wedding because when I
was asked to do
Looking marriage wasn't legal in California. Now here we are
making a movie where it is. All the different decades have different
accomplishments within queer history. It definitely affects people’s
attitudes and relationships, and the way they behave.
