Matt Bomer is looking at the sunnier side of life for his new TV sitcom.
In the upcoming Hulu series Mid-Century Modern alongside Nathan Lane, the actor, 46, stars as Jerry Frank, who left Mormon Church and his marriage in his early 20s after his wife informed him — and the rest of the congregation — that he was gay.
“The series follows three best friends — gay gentlemen of a certain age — who, after an unexpected death, decide to spend their golden years living together in Palm Springs where the wealthiest one lives with his mother,” according to the synopsis. “As a chosen family, they prove that no matter how hard things get, there’s always someone around to remind you it would be better if you got your neck done.”
Bomer recently spoke to PEOPLE about the project, calling the show a “spiritual cousin” of The Golden Girls.
“Some of the circumstances are similar with this group of people, who have decided for a certain chapter in their life, they’re going to live together,” he says. “There are some nods to not only Golden Girls, but some other characters from past shows which I grew up loving. So it’s sort of a hybrid, but I would definitely say it’s a spiritual cousin.”
Bomer’s character — who is described as being “pure of heart,” “hard of body” and “soft of head” — pays tribute to a number of iconic roles from TV shows, including Betty White’s character Rose Nylund from The Golden Girls, Cheers‘ Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson, and All in the Family’s Edith Bunker, portrayed by Jean Stapleton.
Max Mutchnick/Instagram
For more on Matt Bomer, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
“It’s a tip of the hat to a lot of those types of characters that I grew up loving,” Bomer adds.
For the Fellow Travelers star, who is nominated for an Emmy this year for outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie, tackling Mid-Century Modern proved a welcome change of pace.
“I remember finishing Fellow Travelers — and I’d come off of Boys in the Band, Fellow Travelers, Maestro, even Doom Patrol — to an extent where I was playing these very repressed characters,” he explains. “It was all darker, heavier material, and I just thought, I’ve got to [do] a comedy.”
Mid-Century Modern comes from creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, with Ryan Murphy, Bomer and Lane also serving as executive producers. James Burrows, whose previous work includes Cheers, Will & Grace and Frasier, directed the pilot — an “incredible experience” that challenged Bomer to be extremely nimble as a performer.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Jimmy Burrows typically only does one take — maybe two — and then they change a lot of your lines,” he explains, adding, “Then you do one more take, and then sometimes that’s it. It’s fast and furious, and you really have to let go. You have to let go of the controls and just let it all come through you. So there’s something really thrilling and exciting, and there’s kind of a high you get from it, just from the adrenaline rush of it all, that’s incomparable to really anything else.”
