‘Fellow Travelers’: Jelani Alladin, Noah J. Ricketts & Linus Roache Join Showtime Limited Series

Sofia Behzadi
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Jelani Alladin (The Walking Dead: World Beyond), Noah J. Ricketts (American Gods) and Linus Roache (Batman Begins) have been cast opposite Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey and Allison Williams in Showtime’s limited series Fellow Travelers.

Fellow Travelers is a love story and political thriller, chronicling the volatile romance of two very different men who meet in the shadow of McCarthy-era Washington. Fuller (Bomer), who maintains a financially rewarding, behind-the-scenes career in politics, avoids emotional entanglements – until he meets Tim Laughlin (Bailey), a young man brimming with idealism and religious faith.

More from Deadline

They begin a romance just as Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn declare war on “subversives and sexual deviants,” initiating one of the darkest periods in 20th-century American history. Over the course of four decades, Hawk and Tim cross paths through the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the drug-fueled disco hedonism of the 1970s, and the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, while facing obstacles in the world and in themselves.

Alladin will play Marcus Hooks, who comes from a D.C.-based middle-class family and is a journalist covering the Senate beat while confronting the racism he encounters on a daily basis. Ricketts will play Frankie Hines, a drag performer who works in the Cozy Corner, a favorite underground gay nightspot of Hawkins “Hawk” Fuller (Bomer) and Marcus. Roach will play Senator Wesley Smith, a career politician and family man who is like a father to Hawk.

The 8-episode limited series—based on the Thomas Mallon novel of the same name— is created by Oscar nominee Ron Nyswaner. Bomer and Nyswaner executive produce with Robbie Rogers. Daniel Minahan will executive produce and direct the first two episodes.

The co-production between Fremantle and Showtime will begin production later this month in Toronto.

Alladin most recently co-starred in AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond while also appearing on NBC’s Law & Order: SVU as well as CBS’s FBI. On stage he was last seen in the title role of Public Work’s Musical Adaptation of Disney’s Hercules. He is repped by Industry Entertainment, Buchwald and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, and Smelkinson & Christopher.

Ricketts was most recently seen in Stephen Brackett’s To My Girls at Second Stage and will next be seen in the independent feature Summoning Sylvia. Other credits include American Gods, High Fidelity, and Broadway’s Frozen and Beautiful. Ricketts is repped by Lasher Group and Artists and Representatives.

Roache was recently seen in NBC’s Law & Order and Showtime’s Homeland. On stage he was last seen in Richard II and Coriolanus at London’s Almeida Theatre and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. He will next be seen co-starring in Greg Berlanti’s feature film My Policeman. Roache is repped by Authentic Talent & Literary Management and Tavistock Wood.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.