Grey's Actor Jake Borelli to Lead Gay-Themed Valentine's Movie at Freeform

Rebecca Iannucci

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Freeform on Monday greenlit its first-ever Valentine’s Day movie — and with no disrespect to Sally, this romantic comedy is all about Harry.

Titled The Thing About Harry, the gay-themed original film will center on high school enemies Sam (played by Grey’s Anatomy‘s Jake Borelli) and Harry (newcomer Niko Terho), who are forced to share a car ride to their Missouri hometown for a friend’s engagement party on Valentine’s Day. But when Sam learns Harry has come out, things take a turn, and the two men “begin to develop a deep friendship — with neither admitting a potential romance may be brewing — leaving them wondering if one road trip could change the rest of their lives,” the project’s logline reads.

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Borelli’s Sam is described as a “handsome, funny, neurotic, intelligent gay man” who has both “a scathing wit” and “an overly idealistic worldview.” Sam came out when he was still in high school, for which he was constantly bullied in his small Missouri town. Terho’s Harry, meanwhile, is an “emotionally uncomplicated, promiscuous player” who secretly “yearns for love, family and stability,” even though commitment terrifies him.

Queer Eye‘s Karamo Brown will co-star as Paul, a gay man who is both “exceedingly well put-together” yet “overbearing and pretentious,” while GLOW‘s Britt Baron will play Stasia, Sam’s edgy and opinionated best friend. Peter Paige (The Fosters) will direct the movie and appear as Sam’s warm-hearted roommate, Casey.

“It’s been an honor to partner with Freeform in making great television with LGBTQ+ characters as leads,” executive producers Paige, Greg Gugliotta and F.J. Denny said in a statement. “True equality can only be achieved when you see yourself reflected in the movies, music and stories that paint our culture. As young gay men in the 90s, whenever a rom-com opened, we would watch the leading lady fall in love, and imagine what it would be like if the boy was saying all those things to another boy. We’ve always wanted to make a movie — an unabashedly romantic comedy — that queer boys wouldn’t have to translate. It’s rewarding to take the genre to a new, all-inclusive level.”

The Thing About Harry is, fittingly, slated for a February 2020 premiere on Freeform.

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