In 1993, Ron Nyswaner wrote the screenplay for “Philadelphia” with Tom Hanks. Today, he is the author of “Fellow Travelers”, a series that looks back on 30 years of history of struggles for the rights of LGBTQ+ people. Encounter.
If the era of McCarthyism and the hunt for communists have many times been the subject of political thrillers in the cinema, the purple scare – the hunt for homosexuals – is a much rarer subject. It is at the heart of Fellow Travelers, an ambitious series led by Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey, but above all written by an author who has done a lot for the representation of LGBTQ+ people in Hollywood, Ron Nyswaner.
Thirty years ago, he wrote the first American film produced by a major studio to address AIDS. The film, Philadelphia by Jonathan Demme, allowed Tom Hanks to win his first Oscar before becoming a classic. AlloCiné met Ron Nyswaner to look back on this committed series which, in a certain way, completes a loop that began with Philadelphia.
AlloCiné: Fellow Travelers is a political series that features characters and stories that we still rarely see on screen. Was it difficult to make this series happen?
Ron Nyswaner: From the moment we sold it to Showtime, we received a series of “yes” votes. It was a long process, yes, but the series was supported and loved by the studio, Fremantle, and by Showtime in a way that meant a lot to me. But obviously there were notes, suggestions, things I agreed with, others I didn’t. But it was a great collaboration. So I was very lucky.
AIDS is a part of history that people forget, and we have overcome it.
The series is rich in details and information on the period of McCarthyism. How long did your research take to gather this material?
I worked with two assistants throughout the process. And that lasted for a few years. There was a research phase before we sold the series and once we sold it, we hired Louis Gropman, who became our specialist. From Joseph McCarthy to Roy Cohn, everything historical figures say in public on the show, they actually said.
The hearing scenes come from contemporary transcripts, as do McCarthy’s speeches. This is also the case for the lie detector scene, these are questions that were actually asked. It’s meticulous work.
The plot spans thirty years of history. How did you make your choices about the decisive moments that you absolutely wanted to include in the series?
What concerned me was the love story between Hawk and Tim. How to bring them together? What historical lesson do I want to teach? I asked myself these questions and also wanted to draw inspiration from my own experiences. I came out in 1978. So I experienced the excitement of dancing the night away at a nightclub, how much fun it was and how much we celebrated our sexuality at that time. It was incredible. And then AIDS arrived shortly after, a few years later. And I knew I wanted to capture that moment.
This dark period played a very formative role in my life. It’s a part of history that people forget, and we’ve overcome it. Today I hear people say: “Our times are worse than they have ever been“. No, it’s not. This is not the darkest time in the history of the LGBT+ movement. You can adopt children. You can get married. You can sue your employer if you are fired because you’re gay. None of this happened until recent years.
We stand on the shoulders of people who lived through the McCarthy era, on the shoulders of people who lived through the AIDS crisis. We owe them our lives. That’s why part of me wanted this story to be known but only if it was told well.
Showtime/CANAL+ Jonathan Bailey and Matt Bomer in “Fellow Travelers.”
Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey are amazing on the show. What more do they add to the characters you have written?
Matt Bomer perfectly understands his character’s pain. He understands that he is not a man devoid of feelings. Hawkins Fuller has deep feelings within him. He just doesn’t want anyone to ever see him because it keeps him from having the free life he wants to have. And I think Matt showed Hawk that very well.
What Matt can do, and I think this is the epitome of a great movie actor, is that by barely moving a muscle in his face, you always know exactly what Hawk is thinking and feeling. He never expresses it. He never says “I think.” It’s still a secret. Jonathan brought a much more nervous energy and a little more confidence to Tim.
People are very anchored in their identity and I think it’s important to transcend that.
Hawkins and Tim are not perfect heroes. On the contrary, they have many faults. Today, we tend to think that queer representation on screen must necessarily be “positive”, what do you think?
I’ve been struggling with this for years. And I’ve been saying for years, why can’t we be like Don Draper from Mad Men, like Tony Soprano or Walter White? Why must we always be noble victims of oppression? It’s boring. There are no victims here. People are very anchored in their identity and I think it’s important to transcend that. We all have this group of letters after our name.
“I’m into LGBTQI blah, blah, blah.” And if young actors or young screenwriters were to talk about this, I would tell them: “Yes, it’s true. But get that out of your mind, it doesn’t exist.“The human experiences we have are all the same, whether we are queer or not. I have dedicated my entire life to the gay cause and gay activism, but I think that in reality, the best art transcends limited identities.
Fellow Travelers spans several decades. As a screenwriter, which of these decades is your favorite or which episode did you enjoy writing the most?
The seventh episode, which takes place in 1979, because that’s the time I came out. And also the music. Donna Summer was very important to me. It is in a way the musical theme of my coming out period. I had a lot of fun writing this episode, and also because the depth of grief that Hawk experiences in this episode, I certainly experienced it myself. This is the most personal episode of the series.
Then I really loved the 50s, because as a writer I find that the best way to write is to withhold information and feelings. It was a time where no matter who you were, you didn’t talk about your feelings, thank goodness. We kept a large part of who we were to ourselves. And I found it wonderful to write about what couldn’t be expressed.
TriStar Pictures
Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington in “Philadelphia” by Jonathan Demme and written by Ron Nyswaner.
You wrote the film Philadelphia by Jonathan Demme with Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. The film celebrated its 30th anniversary. What memories do you have of this moment in your career?
It is one of the great gifts of my life. Jonathan Demme was my mentor. He introduced me to the world of cinema and changed my life. Just a few months ago, I was at my massage therapist. At one point he had to Google me and said, “You wrote Philadelphia“. He’s 30 years old. I said yes. He told me that this film changed his life. I said: “How is it possible ? You are 30 years old. You were a child.”
He told me the story of his high school in Central America. His high school teacher showed him the movie and he was like, “I’ll manage to deal with that. If Tom Hanks can play me in a big movie, then anything is possible.”
This film continues to give me that type of gift. I’m still friends with the people who made that movie. We still see each other regularly, in small groups. I recently told my Fellow Travelers cast: “Maybe in 30 years you’ll all get together like my friends in Philadelphia. I probably won’t be there.” And they answered me: “Oh, of course you’ll be there“. I tell them that I will probably be in a wheelchair at that time (laughter). Regardless, Fellow Travelers was an equally important experience for me.
Comments collected by Thomas Desroches on December 28, 2023.
Fellow Travelers is available on myCANAL and broadcast on CANAL+.