Michael Urie thinks Brandon Routh, his
romantic interest in the upcoming CBS sitcom Partners, is
“supercute.”
The 32-year-old Urie (Ugly Betty)
will play Louis, whose friendship with business partner Joe (David
Krumholt) is tested when Louis gets a new boyfriend (Routh) and Joe
gets engaged to Ali (Sophia Bush). The series from Will &
Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick has been 4 years in
development and was inspired by their lifelong friendship and
business relationship.
Urie, who is openly gay, sized up
Routh, who is best known for playing Superman in the 2006 film
Superman Returns, in an interview with Entertainment
Weekly.
“He's supercute and a big ol' tree
trunk of a man,” Urie said. “He plays the character's aloofness
perfectly. He was so brilliant as Clark Kent, so this is basically a
sitcom version of that.”
On this show, he
said: “There are places in the country where straight people
still don't understand how to be friends with a gay man and I think
if they catch our show, it can be what Will & Grace was
for those types of folks. Where Ugly Betty and Glee
were able to tackle serious social issues about coming out, this who
is much further along in the character's lives. We're meeting them
in midlife, so it'll be less of an issue show and more of a
lead-by-example show, I hope.”
Partners premieres Monday,
September 24.