Russell Tovey has joined the cast of HBO's upcoming gay-themed
series Looking.
According to The
Hollywood Reporter, Tovey will play Kevin, an accomplished
video game wunderkind, who works closely with Patrick, played by
Jonathan Groff (Glee, Boss).
In additional to Groff, the show stars Murray Bartlett (Guiding
Light) and newcomer Frankie J. Alvarez (Smash) as a trio
of friends grappling with gay life in San Francisco, America's most
gay-friendly city.
The 8-episode series' pilot was directed by Andrew Haigh, whose
brilliant film Weekend about a 48-hour relationship between
two men has collected numerous film festival prizes.
It is the first major U.S. role for 31-year-old openly gay Tovey,
who is best know for his role as werewolf George Sands in the BBC
supernatural drama Being Human, and his first major role
playing gay.
“Every character I play is straight, which is unique, my agent
says, because it's not really been done before that someone who is
completely out is able to play straight roles,” Tovey earlier told
the Independent. “So for me to play gay it has to be
something special, because it might actually be more of a risk. So
I'm waiting for that role – I want it to be something that moves
things forward.”