Matt Bomer on How ‘Mid-Century Modern’ Pays Tribute to Linda Lavin and Working with ‘Icons’ Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham
The new Hulu series “Mid-Century Modern” was pitched as the “gay Golden Girls,” according to creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan.
The 10-episode comedy launches on March 28, and the cast and crew uniformly herald it as a revival of classic sitcoms like Mutchnick and Kohan’s previous hit “Will & Grace” or “Alice,” the long-running show starring the late Linda Lavin, who they recruited for the new series.
However, “Mid-Century Modern,” is a bit racier than its predecessors.
“Because of the people at Hulu, we have been allowed to push the boundary. This is a show that now sounds a little bit more like we all sound,” Mutchnick said during a Q&A with the cast at the series premiere event, held at the DGA Theater in L.A. on Tuesday. “No one has to say ‘boink’ when they want to fuck.”
Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham star as a trio of longtime friends who decide to room together in Lane’s chic mid-century Palm Springs home, which he shares with his feisty mother (Lavin). Dating woes, family drama and shenanigans ensue.
After dreaming up the series in 2023, Mutchnick and Kohan quickly handed off the script to producer Ryan Murphy, who in turn gave it to Lane. “Once that happens, you find yourself making a show,” Mutchnick told Variety on the red carpet earlier in the evening.
“From the get-go, it felt like we’ve been doing it for years,” Lane said. “Look, it’s not your grandma’s situation comedy. It’s an R-rated multicam on Hulu. It’s sort of nostalgic, because it’s reminiscent of all those shows we grew up on, but it also has an outrageous side and naughty, saucy, gay take on things.”
Graham was cast after an audition with Lane, where their chemistry was quickly apparent. “It was unspoken, and it’s something that happened immediately,” Graham said.
Then, Bomer joined the comedy, though he is largely known for dramatic roles in projects like “Fellow Travelers,” “The Normal Heart” and “Doom Patrol.”
“I’d done some drama in college, but mostly comedy. And then when I got into the industry, they saw me as something else, and then I had to figure out how to be a dramatic actor,” Bomer said. “So now I’m doing the reverse and trying to get back to learning how to do comedy.”
Bomer was a longtime fan of Lane, Graham and Lavin, whom he praised as “icons only.” “They let me slip in the back,” he said with a laugh.
A roster of impressive guest stars grace the first season, including Billie Lourd, Cheri Oteri and Richard Kind, who were equally thrilled to join a new, yet old-fashioned comedy.
“I would just absolutely die to be on it more regularly,” Lourd said of the show. “I ran to do this as I wrapped a movie the day before, and I was like, ‘I must get there.’ Came straight off a plane to do it.”
Working with seasoned veterans was also a thrill for Frenchman Renan Pacheco, who scored his first major American role playing Lane’s love interest in the pilot.
“It was really like watching masters doing their craft at the highest level,” Pacheco said. “Nathan really taught me so much about hard work and the capability of being present and delivering for comedy.”
While everyone brought their A-game to set, Mutchnick said the show’s “spiritual showrunner” was Lavin, who died suddenly in December 2024, after completing eight episodes. The show addresses Lavin’s death in its ninth episode, “Here’s to You, Mrs. Schneiderman,” which Graham described as the season’s best. “It was genuinely funny and genuinely heartfelt – very hard things to do without it becoming ‘a very special episode,’” Graham said. “That episode is one of the best episodes I’ve ever done in television.”
Lane spoke with Lavin three days before she died, when she informed him of her lung cancer diagnosis. “She was about to start radiation, and she was optimistic about that and being able to finish the season,” he recalled. “She went out at the top of her game, and I know she was incredibly happy doing this.”
Series director James Burrows had worked with Lavin before, on episodes of sitcoms like “Rhoda,” “Phyllis,” and “B-Positive,” but this experience was special. “She blew me away,” Burrows said. “She was so great.”
Likewise, Bomer said he felt “blessed” to have been in Lavin’s presence and to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from her. “She was always there if you needed help or to find your way, because it’s a tricky, almost a different style of acting in this medium,” he said. “The last time we talked, we had the most beautiful conversation. I’m really grateful that we were able to have that.”
Beyond what the show means to them personally, the “Mid-Century Modern” team hope to make audiences laugh amid challenging times.
“If it makes someone in Chabuti, Miss., feel good about themselves, then I’ve done my job,” Graham said. “I don’t have to be on the front lines of a parade. What I have to do is do my job very well. Bring some levity and some laughter in someone’s life or moment, and always show up.”
Added Bomer: “Here’s a show that’s about found family. We all need to be seen and accepted and loved for our most authentic selves. [It’s] something that I wanted to be a part of putting out into the world, so hopefully we can make some folks laugh along the way.”