HBO is known for its boundary pushing, emotionally nuanced, censors be damned explorations of American subgroups as varied as Jersey Mobsters, Manhattan gals about town, and Hollywood A-listers, but with new half hour dramedy, Looking – premiering this Sunday Night – the pay cable network is about to venture into quite uncharted territory. That’s because amidst our current cultural climate of Duck Dynasty, marriage equality, and the Sochi Olympics, HBO and creators, Michael Lannan and Andrew Haigh have done something revolutionary… they’ve created a show about gay men who exist, not as political symbols, supporting players, sassy sidekicks, or fetishized id’s come to life, but as regular people.
And in another shining example of the Looking teams’ insistence on getting things right, they’ve cast talented rising star of stage and screen, Jonathan Groff, as the lead in this buzzy new series. Sure, you might be thinking, What about a Tony-Nominated Triple Threat says normal? But one glimpse at Groff’s achingly vulnerable performance as Patrick, a San Franciscan looking for what else?… love, success, and happiness in the City By The Bay, should silence all doubts.
In fact, proving his naysayers wrong seems to be the name of the game for Groff ever since the Pennsylvanian first blew away audiences on Broadway in 2007’s Spring Awakening. Since then, he’s worked steadily, bouncing between big screen prestige pics like Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock and Robert Redford’s The Conspirator, and memorable parts on the small screen on shows as varied as CBS’s The Good Wife, Starz’s critically acclaimed but canceled drama, Boss, and of course Fox’s Glee (which reunited him with good friend and Spring Awakening costar, Lea Michelle).
CLICK HERE to watch full first episode of HBO’s Looking.
Now, with his starring role on Looking, not to mention the fact that he’s coming off of a 2013 that saw him play the lead in the first film adaptation of a David Sedaris work: the well-received C.O.G., and voice the part of lovable Kristoff in Disney’s smash animated musical, Frozen, Jonathan Groff’s career is hotter than ever. Expect him to bring his singular mix of boyish charm and enigmatic grace to one of 2014’s buzziest projects, Ryan Murphy’s all-star HBO adaptation of Larry Cramer’s The Normal Heart.
It’s another part that guarantees to put the actor in the crossfires of a gay population anxious to see its stories portrayed honestly and accurately onscreen, but we here at BNH have a hunch that Groff is just the man for the job… In other word’s he’s the guy for whom we’re all looking.