What is it like to have an all-consuming romance over the course of 30 years?
And now, withShowtimes limited seriesFellow Travelers, Nyswaner makes his debut as a TV creator.
So that made me seek out another book, and I readFellow Travelers.
Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey in Fellow TravelersShowtime
I am a person of faith.
Ive had that kind of relationship.
So that really struck me.
Ron Nyswaner at the Deadline Contenders Television 2024
And as Im also a historian, so to put that relationship in historical context was just my thing.
I just immediately wanted to do it.
So,Fellow Travelerswas something I was going to create for television.
This was about 12 years ago, and then I got sidetracked by the need to make a living.
I got distracted [laughs].
So, this inspired me to create a pitch.
When we started pitching it, it was just the right time.
DEADLINE: What does the titleFellow Travelersmean?
So, it was a very disparaging and frightening thing to be called.
Joseph McCarthy actually said it in the first episode.
By the way, everything McCarthy says in public, in my show, he actually said.
Everything that Roy Cohn says in public, in my show, he actually said too.
Every hearing is from transcripts that you see in all those hearings.
So, the show is meticulously researched.
The accusations about McCarthy are all genuine.
This means theres a new era of anti-communism.
Were going to get rid of all those fellow travelers.
So, it is glimpsed at.
I think its about gay time travelers.
And I thought I should pitch that show [laughs].
The book ends in the 1950s.
What was so attractive to you about expanding?
NYSWANER:I really love drama that has high stakes.
Thats what I do.
I do emotional drama with high stakes.
They might have their heart broken, or they might feel sad about something.
But I think its really exciting when you add high stakes to it that go beyond your emotions.
That puts an intense, dramatic pressure on a love story.
Thats what really drew me to it, that Mr. Mallon had created this beautiful relationship.
There were 5,000 to 10,000 people, loyal government workers, who were fired and purged from the government.
Their records were [tarnished], and they were marked as sexual deviants.
Many of them could not get a job as a professor or a teacher.
They said that they had one suicide per week from the people that were under investigation.
To me, that is a pretty significant piece of American history.
I dont know anyone whos ever heard that, so I wanted to bring that history to light.
DEADLINE: How did you find Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey?
What made them perfect for their roles?
Matt was even part of the pitches and was a very active and really helpful executive producer.
Jonathan, Ive been watching sinceBroadchurch.
DEADLINE: His struggle with religion is unique.
Youve mentioned that youre also religious.
Frances and I have known each other since we were 12- or 13-years old [laughs].
I had an ecstatic religious experience, and I pursued that kind of religion as a teenager.
So, I spoke in tongues, and my parents were horrified, by the way.
So, I didnt speak in tongues in that church.
But, as I think in many ways, we were all looking to have those transcendent experiences.
So, my first one was with God.
It was sort of like being part of a religion that was bigger than myself.
And its not true.
DEADLINE: Lets talk about some of the other original characters you added: Marcus and Frankie.
Why was adding them important?
NYSWANER:I felt I couldnt create a television show in 2022/2023 that only had white characters in it.
I thought that I knew that early on that that was not the morally right thing to do.
Especially Black, white, queer characters, because people need to see themselves in things.
Not always, when I was a kid, I couldnt hide it.
But that is a very different experience.
I wanted to invent those characters.
It was a challenge to weave them into Hawks story.
So, we did it all throughoutFellow Travelers.
I relied on a lot of research.
There were these great Black journalists in the 50s.
The Black newspaper business was thriving.
So, to see [that in my research], and of course, it was groundbreaking.
It wasnt a small thing especially, but I thought, this is it.
I can put Marcus as a journalist.
Clearly, they had a sexual encounter.
And that is the character that Marcus became.
Jelani kept a journal during the shooting that he wrote in Marcuss voice.
Jelani would come into my office every now and then and read sections of Marcuss journal to me.
DEADLINE: The show is getting so much recognition in the intricate ways that sexuality and queerness is depicted.
Its almost like a no-holds-barred.
Sometimes, theres a cute cutaway or something, but its clear that the characters are having sex.
What has been some joys about carrying this key in of show?
Its not just something that we do.
It is something that actually shapes and forms us.
Those relationships have a quality of power to them.
And those relationships are, they have a quality to them of power.
Its about, in this moment, I have power over you, because you want something from me.
Im going to give you something to get some power from you.
And that sounds kind of manipulative, and maybe that might strike some people as negative.
But actually, I think the way were presenting it is kind of exciting.
That was a meme moment [laughs].
But hes realizing, Oh, Im wanted sexually.
That gives me some power.
And it actually elevates him in a way.
He becomes less of a victim and more of a person who becomes aware of his sexual power.
So we wanted to chart that throughout the whole show.
And literally, it was different.
What orifice has not been used?
But we figured it out [laughs].
DEADLINE: Youve been in the industry for well over three decades.
NYSWANER:This sounds so fake and phony, but it is true.
And then its so hard to get it made well, because theres so many factors.
Think bigger, be more sexual.
So you want me to suck on his toe?
And we created this family.
So, let me put it this way: I could retire and feel satisfied.
But Im not ready to retire.
