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sex and the city

Still ‘Looking’: 20 surprising facts about HBO’s landmark gay TV drama

By Jorge Molina
Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Few shows in the modern era of television have caused as much conversation within the gay community as HBO’s Looking. Framed as a response to straight and female-centric series that follow a group of young friends going through life, love, and everything in between, the series created by Michael Lannan and produced by Andrew Haigh caught our eyes as one of the few shows to be for us, about us, and by us.

But what did that mean exactly? For many, Looking seemed to be fighting a losing battle, carrying the weight of an entire community longing to see themselves on screen, and unable to accurately represent a universal gay experience (something it never aimed to do).

This year marks a full decade since we first started following the misadventures of Patrick (Jonathan Groff), Frankie (Frankie J. Alvarez), Dom (Murray Bartlett), and Doris (Lauren Weedman) in San Francisco. As gay representation has dramatically expanded over that period of time, maybe we can look back at the show with kinder eyes, and see what the creators always wanted: Just a group of friends trying to get by, as we all are.

As we close out another Pride season, here are 20 fascinating facts you didn’t know about the series, which just even inspire a rewatch!:

1. It started out as a short film.

Image Credit: Michael Lannan’s ‘Lorimer’

Creator of the show Michael Lannan—a producer and assistant director on shows like Sons of Anarchy and Damages—wrote and directed the short film Lorimer, about a gay man who meets a guy on the subway with his friends (which also starred Looking cast member Raúl Castillo). And, thus, he had the basis of what would eventually become the HBO show.

2. It was originally set in Brooklyn.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

According to a GQ oral history of the show, Lannan then turned his short into a feature film script, which maintained the original location of Brooklyn. When executives at HBO got their hands on the screenplay, it was eventually agreed the show would shift to its now iconic San Francisco setting.

3. Russell Tovey originally auditioned for Patrick.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

He did not get the role, which Jonathan Groff was attached to early on. However, once the show got picked up to series, the character of Kevin was developed specifically with Tovey in mind.

4. Doris was supposed to be just a recurring role.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Lauren Weedman’s performance as Doris—Dom’s longtime friend that acts as the core group’s hen mother—was so beloved by cast, crew, and audiences alike that she was promoted to regular cast member in season two.

5. Randy Harrison was the wrong age for the show.

Image Credit: ‘Queer As Folk,’ Showtime

Harrison, best known for portraying Justin Taylor in Queer As Folk (another iconic queer series, and a direct predecessor to Looking) auditioned for both Patrick and Dom. Unfortunately he was considered to be too old for the former and too young for the latter.

6. Jake Shears could have been Dom.

Jake Shears | Photo Credit: Damon Baker

The lead singer of the beloved pop rock band Scissor Sisters was also in contention for the role of Dom.

7. It marked a turning point for director Andrew Haigh’s career.

Image Credit: ‘Looking’ BTS, HBO

Haigh, who directed the majority of the episodes and became an executive producer of the show, had just premiered his film Weekend, which was quickly recognized as a seminal film for modern queer cinema. Upon its critical success, HBO reached out to fly him in and court him for the project. The rest is history.

8. Pedro Pascal auditioned for the show.

Image Credit: ‘Narcos,’ Netflix

Although it is unclear what role he would have played, scheduling conflicts prevented Pascal from being involved. However, casting director Carmen Cuba states that his audition led to him getting his career-turning role in Narcos.

9. Raúl Castillo was originally turned down.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Castillo auditioned for both Agustín and Richie (the role he would eventually play), but was originally turned down. It came down to creator Michael Lannan to fight for him.

10. The cast and crew had extensive bonding outings before and during filming.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

“We had everybody come a week in advance,” an HBO executive told GQ. “We did all kinds of karaoke and going to the Castro Theater and going on hikes and just all kinds of fun stuff.”

11. They had to fight for the unforgettable enema storyline.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

At the time, prepping for bottoming was not something that was shown or even discussed on television. The writer of that episode, John Hoffman, really had to champion and fight to get it to our screens.

12. And yes, Jonathan Groff did it for the first time with his co-star Frankie Alvarez, in real life.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Talking to GQ, Jonathan Groff shared his own experience douching for the first time: “I had never really douched before, as myself. Frankie Alvarez came with me. What we did in the show, where we go to the Walgreens? We actually did [that] in the West Village in real life, where he walked with me to get a f*cking anal douche, and also a dildo to experiment with. He was in the gay sex shop with me, doing that in real life…”

13. The creators resented the Sex And The City comparisons.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Although the comparisons felt inevitable at the time (a group of young friends going through life in a big city), and even some of the marketing leaned into it, it gave audiences the wrong expectations. “I think people wanted a level of camp,” executive producer Sarah Condon told GQ. “And that’s just not Andrew’s style.”””

14. Jonathan Groff and Russell Tovey got Jessie Ware on the show.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

The two actors knew that there was a storyline approaching in which Patrick and Kevin slow dance at a gay prom night. The two were out at a Jessie Ware concert in San Francisco (before she found bigger audiences with her record What’s Your Pleasure?), and when they heard her ballad “Say You Love Me,” they knew that had to soundtrack their memorable dance sequence.

15. Murray Bartlett was about to quit acting.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Bartlett had become disillusioned with his acting career, and was actually living in Egypt with his partner when he was asked to send an audition tape. He had grown a mustache to hide his “white tourism” face, which he believes was pivotal in him getting the role.

16. Patrick would have entered a throuple in a potential third season.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

Talking with Entertainment Weekly about the storylines that never were, Lannan shared that he had considered Patrick entering into a throuple, or starting to date someone much more sexually fluid who would challenge his beliefs.

17. Dom would have dated a recently-divorced man with teenage children.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

This would have forced him to face an alternate-reality version of himself, in which he had actually married Doris back in the day and had children with her.

18. They were all set to go for a Burning Man episode.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

The show was actually deep in pre-production for the episode, getting all the necessary clearances ready. They would have become one of the first television shows to be allowed to film at the iconic music festival.

20. They are open to reuniting on-screen.

Image Credit: ‘Looking,’ HBO

The cast and creators are still very close and throw around the idea of a reunion in some form every couple of years: “A Christmas special is one idea that has been thrown around, so put that on your wishlist,” says Lannan.

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3 Comments*

  • Rank Amateur

    I never saw this series until about 2 years ago. I read that it got poor reviews and I never understood why. I thought it was a great show and would happily have watched a 3rd season.

  • SFMike

    I enjoyed this show and thought it deserved a couple more seasons, but I think the problem was kind of a lack of humor and a miscast Jonathan Groff who was just to neurotic and annoying to be relatable or strong enough to support a series. There was much to like, the San Francisco real locations and especially Russell Tovey and Murray Bartlett, but others were cringe worthy and were people you didn’t really want to be around. Nice try but I didn’t really care what happened to Kevin and didn’t really want to wait for him to grow up or care about his forced relationship with bland neck bearded Richie who I couldn’t see his Kenin’s WASPy character even being interested in.

  • Apolodorus

    This site has such an obsession with this series that it’s actually unhealthy. You have been harping about it since 2014. 2014!!!

    Please get over it. It’s been 10 years.

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