What is the 'Looking' cast up to nowadays?
HBO's comedy-drama series Looking is one of the best TV shows of the 21st century, and one of the best shows about gay life ever. Created by Michael Lannan, Looking only ran for two seasons and a movie, but it left an indelible mark on the TV landscape.
The series followed the lives of a group of gay men in San Fransisco -- Patrick Murray (Jonathan Groff), Dom (Murray Bartlett), and Agustin (Frankie J. Alvarez) -- as they navigated love, family, and their careers. Despite critical success and adoration in the queer community, Looking never took off with mainstream audiences and was canceled after just 18 episodes. The show was nominated for three GLAAD awards and six Dorian Awards, winning the Dorian for Unsung TV Show of the Year in 2016.
Now, it's 2024, and its the 10-year anniversary of Looking's premiere. An entire decade has gone by, and queer representation has changed dramatically, but Looking is still one of the best queer TV shows of all time.
The cast has since moved on to do big things, and create even more of TV's most memorable characters. Several have also moved into the world of films, where they're starring in some of the biggest blockbusters of the past few years. Here's where the cast of Looking is now.
Jonathan Groff
Jonathan Groff is a certified superstar now. Since Looking, he played King George in Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton, for which he won a Grammy and was nominated for a Tony and Emmy. In 2017, he also starred as FBI Special Agent Holden Ford in the critically acclaimed Netflix drama Mindhunter. Of course, he also reprised his role as Kristoff in the smash hit film Frozen II in 2019. And more recently, he appeared as Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections and in Universal's blockbuster thriller film Knock at the Cabin.
Most recently, he returned to Broadway, where he's starring opposite Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez in the first Broadway revival of Sondheim's classic Merrily We Roll Along. He was nominated for a Tony for Best Leading actor in a Musical for the role.
Frankie J. Alvarez
Alvarez has appeared in several TV shows in guest appearances since Looking ended. He's guested in titles like Blue Bloods, Blindspot, and New Amsterdam, and appeared in movies like Vandal and The Drummer. Most recently he's appeared in shows like Let the Right One In, Fantasy Island, and The Blacklist.
Murray Bartlett
Murray Bartlett's next TV roles were in Nashville and Netflix's Iron Fist. He then starred as Michael "Mouse" Toliver in the Netflix revival of Tales of the City. Most recently, though, he can be seen eating ass as Armond in HBO's hit series The White Lotus. The role even earned him his very first trophy at the 2022 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie!
He continued to be one of the most acclaimed actors in Hollywood when he starred in the Hulu miniseries Welcome to Chippendales and appeared as a guest star in the episode, "Long, Long Time" of HBO's The Last of Us. He was nominated for Emmys for both of those roles.
Next, he's appearing in the drama Ponyboi opposite writer/star River Gallo.
Lauren Weedman
After playing Doris, Dom's best friend, in Looking, Weedman has had many, many TV roles. She's appeared in Playing House, Tarantula, Graves, Will & Grace, Arrested Development, Santa Clarita Diet, Single Parents, Briarpatch, Tales from the Loop, Euphoria, Special, and Hacks. She's also been in movies like Horse Girl, The Honor List, and The Little Hours.
In the last few years, she's had recurring roles on shows like Special, Hacks, Kevin an F**k Himself, and Abbott Elementary.
Russell Tovey
One of Tovey's biggest post-Looking roles has been as Ray Terrill/The Ray in the CW's Arrowverse shows The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl, as well as the animated show Freedom Fighters: The Ray. He also was one of the stars of Russell T Davies' drama series Years and Years, where he played gay housing officer Daniel Lyons and was nominated for the Critic's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries. He also starred in the TV series Quantico and appeared in the movie The Good Liar. He also starred in Allelujah, a film adaptation of Allan Bennet's play of the same name.
In 2022, he starred in American Horror Story: NYC as gay detective Patrick Read. He reteamed with Ryan Murphy again in 2024 to play Truman Capote's on-again-off-again lover John O'Shea in Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans.
He will also be starring in the upcoming historial drama Plainclothes, where he and Tom Blyth star as an undercover cop who "is tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men: and the target he's drawnt o.
He currently hosts a podcast called Talk art with his friend Robert Diament, where they explore the contemporary art world.
Raúl Castillo
After small roles in TV shows like Easy and Riverdale, Castillo moved on to a recurring role in Atypical, where he played a bartender who has an affair with the main character's mom. He also appeared in four episodes of Vida. But his real success since Looking has been in films. In 2016 he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in We the Animals. Since then, he's been in Knives Out, Army of the Dead, Night Teeth, Mother/Android, and 2022's Sundance hit Cha Cha Real Smooth.
Since then, he aslo appeared in the films The Inspection with Jeremy Pope, Cassandro with Gael Garcia Bernal, and Miguel Wants to Fight. He also apperead in an episode of American Horror Stories and will be in the horror sequel Smile 2.
O.T. Fagbenle
Fagbenle recently appeared in the Black Widow solo movie, officially joining the MCU. He's also appeared in The Handmaid's Tale (earning an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2021), and has his own show, Maxxx, on Hulu. In 2022, he starred as Barack Obama in Showtime's The First Lady miniseries, and as Cameron Lautner in WeCrashed, about the rise and fall of WeWork.
More recently, he appeared in the show Secret Invasion, reprising his Black Widow role, and is in the Maya Rudolph comedy series Loot.
Daniel Franzese
The Mean Girls star guested in the TV shows Recovery Road and Conviction after Looking. He's also appeared in shows like S.W.A.T., Falling for Angels, Foursome, and GLOW. He's also been a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race.
Last year, he reprised the role of Damien in a Walmert commercial that brought back most of the cast of Mean Girls, including Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, and Lacey Chabert.
