In light of the premiere of Doom Patrol, Matt spoke with ET Online to discuss the new season and bringing Larry Trainor to life.
Known for his breakout role in White Collar, his Golden Globe–winning turn in The Normal Heart as well as the Magic Mike films, Matt Bomer is the first to admit that doing a superhero series wasn’t at the top of the list of what he wanted to do next in his career. But when it comes to Doom Patrol, the trippy DC Universe series returning for season 2 on HBO Max, he found himself attracted to the pathos imbued in the storytelling. “What I love about this show is that as much as it is prestige superhero television, it’s really about the human condition and the capacity for even the most marginalized among us to find their inner hero,” he tells ET.
On the series, which was adapted for the screen by executive producer Jeremy Carver along with superhero savant Greg Berlanti, Bomer plays Larry Trainor, whom he describes as “one part Montgomery Clift, one part elephant man.” A closeted Air Force pilot who’s badly burned in a plane crash after he makes contact with a negative spirit, Trainor has managed to survive decades later thanks to the special bandages covering his body that prevent the spread of radioactivity emitting from his body.
Over the course of season 1, Trainor is haunted by his past as he tries to come to terms with his sexuality and relationship with fellow pilot John Bowers (Kyle Clements), whom he pushed away after the accident and never fully got over.
“I love working on Larry because it never felt — other than some of the bigger-budget action sequences or special effects sequences — it never felt like I was working on a superhero show,” Bomer says. “There was so much pathos and character-driven drama in those scenes that it felt like I was just getting to work on a really great well-written show. Especially those scenes with John.”
The scenes the actor is referring to include some of the flashbacks with Trainor and Bowers in a motel room and later at a gay bar, where they both get to be themselves, even as Trainor is trying to figure out how to be completely comfortable in his own skin.
“Season 1 was so much about self-discovery and being able to finally come to terms with his own authenticity after 60 years of basically shutting down and diving into his past, and going from a man who had thought that he had to, in order to achieve what he wanted, cut off the most authentic part of himself,” Bomer says, explaining that journey then allowed Trainor to “ultimately find love and acceptance for himself and be able to come out to his crew.”
Read the full interview at ET Online!