Fruit by the Foot

Toe-sucking brings people together. Just ask Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey.

Looking to make a fast friendship? Try sucking on their toes.

That advice comes courtesy of Matt Bomer, who infamously got his toes sucked by co-star Jonathan Bailey in the first episode of Fellow Travelers. In the show, Bomer played Hawk, a closeted D.C. politician who falls for Skippy, played by Bailey, at the height of the Lavender Scare of the 1950s.

“We are bonded for life, for sure, as friends after having gone through this together,” Bomer said in a recent interview with People. “So it’s a very sacred friendship for me. I love Jonathan.”

What is it about that scene in particular that brought Bomer and Bailey together? After all, they did much more than foot play across the eight-episode miniseries (including some truly iconic sex scenes). Who’s to say, but the two have been nearly inseparable since the show’s premiere, appearing together on red carpets and shouting each other out at awards shows.

But would Bomer return the favor and give Bailey’s feet a lick? He rejects the question, saying, “That wasn’t in the script! We did what was in the script.”

Bailey previously shared his thoughts on the toe-sucking scene in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, revealing it was a major reason he believed in the show’s success.

“I wasn’t intimidated by it. I was just like, ‘If in the first episode that’s what we are doing, it’s going to be worth five months moving to Toronto, and it’s going to be a series that I would want to watch,’” Bailey said. “Because not only is it incredibly complicated, not only is it really hot, it’s also something that masks as being provocative, but actually it’s really psychologically impactful and the people who get it get it.”

Bomer, meanwhile, is grateful for the show’s wide audience and critical acclaim. It’s garnered nominations from the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice Awards, with Bailey even nabbing a win for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series at the latter.

“On the street, it’s been really multi-generational,” Bomer told People of the show’s audience. “There are young people who see themselves in the story. I thought they would mostly see themselves in Skippy, but they’ve also seen themselves in Hawk and other characters in the story. And folks who’ve lived through a lot of the pieces of the story that we’re telling in the show, it’s resonated with them.”

“I’m so thankful we were even able to get the show made,” he continued. “The fact that it’s reverberated the way it has meant the world to me.”

And the toe-sucking? That was just the cherry on top.

Fellow Travelers is now streaming on Showtime.

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