Unbridled ambition collides with social liberalism in Ryan Murphy's satirical The Politician. In the new Netflix series, Tony-winner Ben Platt is Payton Hobart, an upper-crust Santa Barbara, Calif., teen who forged his plan to become president of the United States when he was a child. First, he must first win his high school class presidency and gain entrance to Harvard before he can make his way to the White House.
Bohemian Rhapsody's Lucy Boynton plays his nihilistic political rival, Astrid, in his run for the presidency. The series also stars Jessica Lange, Zooey Deutch, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bob Balaban, Judith Light, and Bette Midler.
In an interview with The Advocate, Platt and Boynton chatted about the show's inherent queerness and how many of the characters in the series are sexually and/or gender fluid.
"To do [this project] with Ryan, who always makes sexuality and gender fluidity a part of the backdrop and the tapestry of the piece but never the subject matter or the narrative -- it's just an assumed part of reality, particularly in this show," Platt says. "Everyone is kind of all over the map in a really beautiful way, which is where everything is headed anyway, and he's always very much ahead of the curve."
The Politician's eight-episode season is available in full beginning today.
Watch the interview below.
