The gays have finally moved into the White House.
In The Residence, the new Netflix series created by Paul William Davies and executive produced by Shonda Rhimes, there’s a murder at a state dinner. With nearly 200 potential suspects, the brilliant mind of Detective Cordelia Cupp (Uzo Aduba) is needed to solve a case that at first seems unsolvable.
Among the cavalcade of possible culprits are President Perry Morgan (Paul Fitzgerald) and First Gentleman Elliot Morgan (Barrett Foa). It’s surprising and refreshing to see queer people exist in such powerful leadership roles. It’s also incredibly rare, with the only other notable example of an openly queer president on TV coming from Jodi Balfour’s lesbian leader on For All Mankind. Given recent real-life political developments, the timing of a gay president on a big Netflix series couldn’t be more significant.
Over Zoom, Foa and Fitzgerald spoke to The Daily Beast’s Obsessed about playing television’s first gay president and first gentleman, and getting a personal concert from Australian pop legend Kylie Minogue.
In The Residence, both Foa and Fitzgerald’s characters are overwhelmed by their new lives—President Perry Morgan is about six months into his first administration, and things are not going well. While we don’t get an impression of his policies, we see his leadership traits come through in a fun diva moment where he demands his shower have stronger water pressure. “His personality is not well suited to not succeed. I funneled all my frustration of a failing administration into getting the damn shower and water pressure situation fixed,” Fitzgerald said.
Elliot, meanwhile, tries to keep things stable in the White House as first gentleman, but he’s in way over his head. “He longs to be a Jackie Kennedy but lacks the decisive nature,” Foa said. “He hires some very strong-willed people who pull him by the neck to where they want to be. He’s out of his depth, but there’s a sweetness to him.”
In a massive ensemble like The Residence, there are limited opportunities for each performer to stand out. “It’s something we talk about a lot: ‘How do you squeeze the most out of a moment without forcing it?’ Fitzgerald recalled. For the pair, building chemistry off-set went a long way to developing their characters.
“I’ll never forget it,” Fitzgerald remembered. “I got a DM from Barrett, saying ‘I think we’re gonna be husbands.’ We’d never met. But I was fanboying that Barrett was in one of the early iterations of Avenue Q.” Theater proved to be what bonded them together: “We’re both theater dorks, so we leaned into that,” Foa said. Foa had a unique idea to help them build up their presidential status. “For our first meeting, I scheduled a date to go to the Ronald Reagan Library and go to Air Force One. We had a research date!” he said, laughing.
(Warning: Some spoilers ahead.)
Some of the duo’s best work comes in the season’s final episode, where Detective Cupp has gathered all the suspects in one room to report her findings. Surprisingly, there’s some credible evidence that suggests the killer may just be First Gentleman Elliot. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, as Perry and Elliot look at each other in astonishment, taking in this shocking information while negotiating their very public standing.
“That’s my favorite moment in the entire series,” Fitzgerald said. “I think the unique situation where someone implying your husband is involved in murder and you happen to be president creates a conflict of about 28 different crazy emotions and adrenaline rushes and fears and uncertainties all at once.”
While Fitzgerald’s character processes that his husband may be a murderer, Foa has to balance the shock of being accused with the concern that Perry may not immediately be on his side. “It was such a tasty snack for Paul Davies to write for us,” Foa said.
There’s very little precedent for seeing a gay POTUS on television. For both actors, it’s something they took seriously, thinking about how to portray these characters keen to embrace a natural style and not lean into stereotypes.
“I’m a queer man myself, and probably very straight presenting,” Fitzgerald said. “‘I’m someone who’s very comfortable in my sexuality. I loved just being myself. I didn’t feel like I had to act straight or anything.”
For Foa, playing Elliot is a testament to his journey with his sexuality, and learning to be comfortable in his own skin.
“I started in musical theater and Broadway and was out and proud. But then when I got to Hollywood and started on NCIS: Los Angeles, I didn’t know how I’d be received in this town,” Foa said. “I didn’t know if I needed to retreat and hide some of myself. It took years to figure out I can let myself be me however that might manifest. And here I have this role that I can bring my whole self to and not have to hide any shades of me. It’s really lovely living your truth.”
As The Residence occurs during a White House state dinner with an Australian delegation, pop sensation Kylie Minogue has a key role in the show, performing for the White House, and especially Perry and Elliot Morgan. This led to a unique conflict for Fitzgerald’s character.
“When Kylie is performing and my husband is bopping out of his chair, there’s a fun tension of wanting to dance like we’re in a club, but resisting an overt display. But my repression isn’t because I’m gay, it’s that I’m President of the United States. I’m trying to maintain an idea of what the presidency is,” Fitzgerald said. Try as he might to resist, even President Morgan isn’t immune to the powers of Minogue.
“Ultimately, I want to represent that gay people are a multiplicity of things. We can be deadly serious and straight-acting, and we can also jump out of our f---ing seat at Kylie Minogue,” Fitzgerald said.
Working with Minogue was a total blast, and Foa developed a friendship with her on set. “She hooked me up with front-row tickets to her Vegas residency—my mind was blown,” he said. “On set, she was teaching me choreography during the breaks. I told her I was a big fan, and I tried not to totally geek out.”
“I think she figured out that you were a fan before you told her!” Fitzgerald joked.
While The Residence is a comedy, the actors were moved by the significance of their roles. “I feel profoundly proud to create this representation. It’s lovely to imagine we’re in a post-representation or post-identity politics space, but I think that this new administration has disabused that idea,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s very cool to cast into the future and help set that paradigm,” agreed Foa.
“TV plays a really important role in helping people see a future that they may not have otherwise seen,” Fitzgerald said. “If Barrett and I representing this can enlarge the culture of imagination by seeing it mirrored in real life, it would be the proudest moment of my entire career.”
