Jonathan Groff: Until “Looking,” straight friends didn’t know men could have sex face-to-face
“I had a lot of liberal artist friends that told me they didn’t know gay people could have sex facing each other until they saw our show.”
–Jonathan Groff, speaking about the impact recently cancelled HBO gay drama Looking had on his friends, Attitude reports.
Groff’s friends certainly had a lot of material to learn from, as Looking wasn’t shy about depicting sex between its characters. Still, for Groff it was something of a surprise.
“I think: ‘Wow! It’s interesting you didn’t know that gay men can look at each other in the eyes when they have sex.'” It’s an emotional thing that they didn’t believe to exist.”
He also revealed that Looking‘s realistic approach to storytelling has led to several encounters with fans.
“Because of the TV show’s honest depiction of gay life, and because people watch it in their living rooms, [fans] feel really comfortable coming up and talking to me,” he said. “They feel like Patrick is one of their friends. Sometimes it’s a serious talk: a guy pulled me aside at a play I am doing and said: ‘I am gay but still in the closet at 50, I don’t know what to do! Others tell me all sorts of intimate sexual stories.”
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