After a string of dramatic roles, Matt Bomer needed a comedy. Enter 'Mid-Century Modern'

Matt Bomer is funny. Quite funny, successful fact.

You’d beryllium forgiven for not truly associating the “White Collar” and “Fellow Travelers” histrion with having a comic bone, though.

“I person friends who I went to assemblage with who were shocked erstwhile I instantly started moving successful drama,” helium tells me. “They’re like, ‘Whoa, what’s happening?’”

Which, to beryllium fair, whitethorn beryllium what fans and critics alike are asking themselves arsenic they spot Bomer successful ads each implicit the metropolis for Hulu’s latest multi-cam sitcom, “Mid-Century Modern.”

In the show, retired Friday, Bomer joins Nathan Lane, Nathan Lee Graham and the precocious Linda Lavin successful a Palm Springs-set drama created by “Will & Grace” duo Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. The premise is simple: grieving the nonaccomplishment of their beloved person George, Bunny (Lane) asks his friends Arthur (Graham) and Jerry (Bomer) to travel unrecorded with him and his mother, Sybil (Lavin), successful his lavish Dinah Shore-inspired godforsaken home.

Hulu’s “Mid-Century Modern” stars Nathan Lee Graham, Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer and Linda Lavin, successful what was her last relation earlier her decease past year.

(Chris Haston / Disney)

Between the laughter track, the pratfalls and the quippy dialog (“This is Palm Springs — this spot is truthful cheery adjacent the trees are named Joshua!”) the task is simply a left-field crook for an histrion who’s chopped his teeth playing wounding and wounded queer characters successful projects similar “The Normal Heart,” “The Boys successful the Band” and “Doom Patrol.”

As we beryllium down for java astatine Café Gratitude successful Larchmont connected a warm, sunny Sunday, Bomer is candid astir what archetypal drew him to “Mid-Century Modern.”

“I’m incredibly grateful that I’ve gotten to bash these beauteous roles that explored repression,” helium says. “I wouldn’t commercialized that for the world, and I anticipation that I get to bash much of them someday. But aft ‘Fellow Travelers,’ I retrieve thinking, I person to bash comedy. I person to laugh. I request joy. And truthful I conjecture it started from a truly selfish place.”

The archetypal transportation for “Mid-Century Modern” was “the cheery ‘Golden Girls.’” The aviator publication imagined 3 older cheery men surviving unneurotic successful Palm Springs and creating a chosen family, not dissimilar the 1 depicted successful that iconic (and, for many, already rather gay-coded) ’80s sitcom acceptable successful Miami. But arsenic Mutchnick and Kohan were discussing casting for the relation of Jerry, chap shaper Ryan Murphy added an unexpected sanction into the mix: Bomer.

“After ‘Fellow Travelers,’ I retrieve thinking, I person to bash comedy. I person to laugh. I request joy. And truthful I conjecture it started from a truly selfish place,” says Matt Bomer astir what drew him to “Mid-Century Modern.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Lane archetypal met Bomer years agone erstwhile his publicist, Simon Hall, began dating the histrion (the 2 person since wed). “You tin ne'er kick astir thing for the remainder of your life,” Lane remembers quipping astatine Hall then, recalling however charming and delightful Bomer had travel across. But the thought of bringing successful a younger histrion into the premix — Bomer is 47, whereas Lane is 69 and Graham is 56 — felt similar it would irrevocably change the premise of the show.

“I was like, ‘Oh, what? Am I going to beryllium his grandfather?’” says Lane with practiced, self-deprecating mockery. “Why are you going to bash that to me? But [Max and David] had worked with Matt connected ‘Will and Grace,’ and loved moving with him. I thought astir it, and I was a small concerned. It’s like, are we the Golden Girls? Or are we not?”

It was a just question, 1 some creators wrestled with.

“Max and I talked for a bit, and we said, ‘You cognize what? Let’s marque him 63 and 1 of the enduring annoyances of each the friends is that helium looks similar he’s 45,’” Kohan says. “But beauteous soon we abandoned that thought due to the fact that it’s a one-joke gimmick.”

Instead, they turned Jerry into a younger fellow who was adopted into the person radical adjacent aft his narration with George ended. Suddenly, Jerry’s wide-eyed optimism, wrapped successful a puppyish wonderment, was a substance of predisposition and procreation alike.

A lapsed Mormon who greets each time with a sunny disposition (and successful galore a choky T-shirt and abbreviated shorts), Jerry is the unsuspecting bosom of the show. That helps equilibrium Arthur’s adust humor, Bunny’s frantic antics and Sybil’s deliciously cutting demeanor.

The writers modeled Jerry connected characters similar Rose Nylund, Edith Bunker and Woody Boyd. And so, successful the run-up to production, Bomer did his requisite research, approaching it with his diagnostic discipline. “I lone allowed myself 3 episodes of “The Golden Girls,” 3 episodes of “All successful the Family,” and 3 episodes of “Cheers” (the play Woody joined),” helium says.

Only three? “Well, I wanted to beryllium influenced by and wage homage to, but not copy,” helium adds.

Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham successful a country from “Mid-Century Modern.” Bomer’s Jerry is the unsuspecting bosom of the show.

(Chris Haston / Disney)

Whether having meltdowns implicit pickleball matches oregon swooning implicit Donny Osmond — not to notation dancing a fool to Salt-N-Pepa songs and flirting up a tempest with a hunky young suitor — Bomer’s Jerry is astatine erstwhile flighty and grounded. Which is fitting, considering he’s a formation attendant.

“That says everything astir him,” Bomer says. “He’s oftentimes the impetus for them each to get retired successful the satellite and bash something. He doesn’t privation to conscionable beryllium and stagnate successful the desert. He wants them to person this breathtaking beingness and spell to Fire Island oregon spell to a concert. He’s oftentimes the 1 that gets them into harebrained circumstances.”

The rubric whitethorn hearken backmost to decades agelong gone, but there’s thing modern astir “Mid-Century Modern.” This is not, arsenic Bomer tells me, “your ma and dad’s multicam.” “The characters speech similar radical I cognize talk,” helium says. “And it is not acrophobic to thin into R-rated contented and amusement our radical arsenic genuinely multifaceted.”

But adjacent arsenic the aviator occurrence sets up a “Gay-December” romance and has characters talking astir PrEP and promiscuity alike, determination was 1 gag that proved to beryllium excessively racy: It progressive resistance stalwart Coco Peru (as a motelier), a susceptible Jerry, and a portion that’s a play connected a gin fizz. It was besides Bomer’s favourite spot from that archetypal episode.

“Jerry’s the benignant of quality who’s truthful gracious and benignant and affirmative connected the outside,” helium says. “But if helium looks nether the hood excessively much, helium tin interruption down truly easily. And he’s having 1 of those moments wherever Arthur is asking him to look into himself a small bit. So helium has this meltdown wherever helium spills the portion each implicit himself.”

Muthnick and Kohan were conscionable arsenic bittersweet to spot the spot spell due to the fact that it captured successful miniature the comedic acrobatics Bomer is called connected to execute passim the show’s archetypal season.

Max Mutchnick connected Matt Bomer: “He has what’s connected the page, and past helium has to bash thing physical. And past this histrion is truthful talented that helium puts immoderate different rotation connected apical of it. That’s a instrumentality that gets precocious marks.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

“I sometimes accidental that Matt is simply a triple Lutz performer,” Mutchnick notes. “The grade of trouble is precise high. He has what’s connected the page, and past helium has to bash thing physical. And past this histrion is truthful talented that helium puts immoderate different rotation connected apical of it. That’s a instrumentality that gets precocious marks.”

As Graham puts it, Bomer “has this quality to embarrass himself and to beryllium wholly unfastened and beryllium wholly vapid. But helium plays that innocence truthful well.”

Nevertheless, sometimes a high-scoring instrumentality has to get the ax.

“It was a concession to the studio,” Kohan says.

But the information that it was written and performed astatine each — it nabbed rather an assemblage laugh, arsenic they callback — signals conscionable however forward-thinking “Mid-Century Modern” was designed to be. And it’s why, aft spending years successful play projects that kept him talking and reasoning mostly of closets and traumas, Bomer feels truthful astatine location wrong this raucously comic ensemble.

Moreover, Bomer’s tendency to crook to drama and queer joyousness was much urgent and indispensable than helium could person anticipated. Not lone did they sprout an occurrence connected predetermination night, but they had to reckon with Lavin’s decease during the holidays. (Her nonaccomplishment required retooling the past 3 episodes, and the play finale is present titled “The Show Must Go On.”)

“Playing it and processing it astatine the aforesaid clip is thing I wouldn’t privation connected anybody,” Bomer says. “She’ll beryllium missed. She led with specified a beautiful, gentle, dignified grace. She wasn’t each wrapped up successful herself with her process. She was determination for the team. It inactive doesn’t adjacent consciousness real, if I’m honorable with you. It was tremendously upsetting, and I’m gladsome we had each different to thin on.”

Add to that needing to enactment done the fires that ravaged Los Angeles successful January, and you person a dizzying, hilarious sitcom being created nether precise trying circumstances.

As helium looks backmost connected this roller coaster of a ride, Bomer, successful existent Jerry fashion, is wistful and hopeful successful adjacent measure.

“It taught maine to support my bosom open,” helium says. “I consciousness similar I came astatine this full process similar a puppy canine myself, similar a aureate retriever, conscionable enthusiastic and excited to enactment with my idols. Increasingly, the satellite started to consciousness much and much Orwellian implicit the people of filming. And truthful to person a quality who forced maine to, astatine slightest for a definite magnitude of clip each day, support my bosom unfastened and look astatine things connected the agleam broadside and enactment enthusiastic and affirmative was truly therapeutic.”