26 | QSALTLAKE MAGAZINE | Q&A
Qsaltlake.com |
Russell Tovey: Silver Fox Fever
ISSUE 321 |
MARCH, 2021
The actor talks new Hulu series, a Looking reboot and leaning into his ‘daddy’ years BY CHRIS AZZOPARDI
Russell
Tovey steamed up screens as Jonathan Groff’s hunky boss on the HBO series “Looking”, about an intimate group of gay and queer friends living in contemporary San Francisco. Impassioned thoughts on the Richie-Kevin-Patrick love triangle abounded. And then the show ended in 2016, after just two seasons. But when it came to embodying gay characters on TV (and stage), Tovey was just getting started. In addition to his theater work in the 2017 staging of “Angels in America” at the National Theatre in London, the openly gay British actor has gone on to play a passel of gay men across a swath of networks: Daniel Lyons, on HBO’s six-part dystopian drama “Years and Years”; Harry Doyle, a James Bond-type role created with him in mind, on ABC’s “Quantico”; and Ray “The Ray” Terrill, on the CW’s “Arrowverse” crossover, “Crisis on Earth-X”. Once in a while, Tovey plays straight. That is true of his role in Hulu’s four-part twisty murder-thriller “The Sister” as Nathan Redman, whose past — which includes a dead woman, and a peculiar man named Bob — comes back to haunt him. Outside of acting, Tovey produces a podcast called TalkArt, which is dedicated to all things art, with gallerist Robert Diament. Their book, “TalkArt”, comes out June 1. Tovey’s passion for visual art is apparent even on Zoom, where I connect with the actor and podcaster during the virtual junket for “The Sister”. A striking abstract painting hovers above him. “I haven’t got any backgrounds that apply naturally where I can sit,” the 39-year-old says. Jokingly, I ask Tovey whether every interview he does on this press day will feature a new work from his vast collection. You know, to keep it fresh. “Every interview is a different work of art,” he
PHOTO: ROBERT VIGLASKY / HULU
