Jonathan Groff dressed as Mary Poppins for Halloween when he was three years old. Oh yes. Brace yourself for your next TV crush.
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This looked like it must have been a really fun shoot. You guys seemed to really get along. Did you shoot in San Francisco?
We did. It was great because they gave us like a week and a half to live in San Francisco to rehearse and do costume fittings and stuff before we actually started shooting. So (co-stars) Frankie J. Alvarez, Murray Bartlett, and I got to hang out and explore the city before we shot there. Then we shot the pilot there and then we shot the entire series on location in San Francisco as well.
Did you guys have one big intense bonding moment right away?
The very first night we got there—it was March 20 of last year. I remember that because his birthday is the 20th and mine is March 26, so we celebrated both in San Francisco. When we got there, they put us all up in a hotel, but Murray had the forethought of getting an apartment through Airbnb when we were shooting the pilot. So he was staying in the Mission in this incredible apartment with a back garden. So the first night that we got to San Francisco we opened up a bottle of wine and stayed up all night and hung out in the back garden of Murray’s apartment. It was such a moment for the three of us. And doing it in San Francisco in an environment that felt very true to the city was a really special moment. And then nights after that it was bingewatching YouTubes and laughing and watching the “Mariah Carey Needs a Moment” video on repeat.
Here is that video:
I feel like I’m already getting a sense of that happening with Looking, where people want it to be every single gay experience.
I think it’s such a dangerous expectation, of any show. The characters are based on experiences that Michael Lannan had while he was living in San Francisco. They even put up pictures of friends from San Francisco in the room while they were auditioning for actors. Like, “That’s the guy that Augustine is based on, that’s the guy that Dom is based on.”
Whenever there’s a TV show that has gay characters it’s put on a timeline from like Soap to Will and Grace to Glee, where “progress” is measured based on how those characters are portrayed. Were you guys cognizant about the fact that Looking was going to be placed on that timeline?
I don’t think that when we were making it that ever crossed my mind. It’s interesting now, in retrospect, to look back. Even on set and in the development of the pilot and then the development of the first season as we all were rehearsing and getting to know our characters, no one ever said anything about the “gay experience,” in quotes, as a whole.
I think with Patrick, specifically, that young people might relate to is that it’s apparent in the very first scene in the series where Patrick is in the woods trying to get a handjob and it’s so out of character for himself—sometimes that happens for people when they’re 16. Sometimes it happens when they’re 30 or 50, where you—obviously the show is called Looking—and I feel like at 29-years-old in San Francisco, Patrick is really starting to look at himself and say why do I go on so many bad dates? Why am I falling into so many of these patterns? How can I change? How can I grow? How can I get better? That’s a great outlook on life, to be able to look at your relationships and the patterns you’re falling in and say, “How can I do better?”
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Were there TV characters that you looked up to when you were growing up?
I remember driving by the billboard of Will and Grace. It was on when I was in like middle school. I was not out of the closet yet, but I knew I was gay. Even though when I watched the show I didn’t feel like I’m Jack or I’m Will. I didn’t feel like that was me on screen. But just that there was a show where people were gay and they were interacting with each other, I breathed a little sigh of relief. You don’t feel as alone, like you’re the only person.
One of the best things about Looking is that its characters actually have sex and live life like people really do—something that gay characters on TV shows don’t typically get to do. Was there any anxiety over whether the characters were too slutty or not slutty enough or having too much sex or not enough sex? I feel like so much of the coverage of the show is going to focus on the sex element, and how it’s portrayed.
Yeah. I think that the reason, part of the reason, that HBO hired Andrew Haigh is because of his movie. Where the sex felt just like real life. I think they knew what they were getting into when they hired him for the show. They knew the nature of the show. At least in my experience there was no talk of “we need more tits and ass!” Or “we need less sex!” None of those conversations happened.
In the first four episodes, except for that scene with Richie where he leaves, I don’t have any sex in the episodes. I do later on in the season. But it was all very story based.
Was there one scene that was the most uncomfortable?
I had no trouble signing the nudity rider because I knew that Andrew Haigh was helming the show. I loved the way he dealt with all the sex in Weekend in such a sort of natural and real way.
The thing that made me the most anxious, weirdly, was the interaction that Patrick had socially, where he had that blind spot on. Where you’re like, how? Why? How are you saying this? What’s wrong with you?
Like when he was disappointed about the date not having an uncut penis…
Right! And he’s like, “Wait, why are you leaving? What’s wrong?” Like oh, god!
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Well to switch topics completely, I can’t let you go without talking like a little schoolgirl about Frozen. Because it is so freaking good. I loved it so much.
Oh good! Yayyyy!
I feel like voicing a Disney character, for people our age, must be some sort of dream that you could never imagine fulfilling. But you got to do it!
Totally. I mean I was Mary Poppins when I was three.
Stop! Really?
I was! I have the video footage to prove it. I was Peter Pan when I was four. And then I was Disney’s Robin Hood when I was five. I mean I was obsessed with Cinderella when I was four. It goes very, very deep, my obsession with Disney as a kid. When I told my mom I got this part, she was like, “Oh my god! This is like your life when you were little! You love this more than anyone!” Like when I was three I cried when the credits rolled on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at the movie theater. So to be in any part of Frozen is totally a dream come true.
I’m sorry. I still haven’t moved on from the fact that you were Mary Poppins when you were three. You should surface that photo. Buzzfeed would have a field day with it.
I had a full carpetbag and everything. Really.
But with Frozen, there are plenty of people who are confused, upset, dismayed that you were cast in such a big part, you have such an amazing Broadway voice, and then the only song you were given was that silly one where half the time you were a reindeer.
I know! It’s so funny. Bobby and Kristin, who wrote the score, were like, “We’re so sorry! We’re trying to finish a song for you.” They kept talking about it. The whole time. And I was just like, “Look, guys. I’m a voice in a Disney movie. I think I’m good. I’m so thrilled to just be in this—it’s awesome that you want to write a song, but I’m just happy to be here.”
Have you seen that “Let It Go” parody where they sing along to the “Let It Go” tune…
And she’s like, (starts singing) “Fuck it all! Fuck it all! Can’t take this anymore…”
That’s the one!
Oh no. They’re telling me to wrap it up now. I think they just got nervous that I screamed “fuck” at you. But yeah, that’s amazing.
Well, then that’s the perfect note for me to end on.
I’d say so.
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