By Charlie Duncan
Copyright thepinknews
Plainclothes, the gay cruising thriller starring Tom Blyth and heartthrob Russell Tovey is nearly here – and the latter is ’embracing’ his Daddy era for the role.
Starring Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes lead Tom Blyth as undercover (and in the closet) cop Lucas, and out gay Years and Years star Russell Tovey as Andrew, Plainclothes, from Carmen Emmi, centres on the cruising culture of New York.
The unlikely pair find themselves drawn to each other when Andrew becomes Lucas’s target for one of the police force’s many sting operations targeting gay men in the Big Apple – throwing Lucas’s entire life into question.
The only power imbalance between the pair isn’t just Lucas’s police badge, with Andrew being significantly older than the fresh faced member of New York’s finest.
Happily, Tovey’s Andrew is all too happy to step into that pseudo-sexual-father figure role for Blyth’s Lucas – and for any particularly horny audience members.
“Yeah, I embrace Daddy,” Tovey told Out Magasine. And that’s the sound of knees crumpling around the world.
He added: ““I mean, Pedro Pascal says, ‘Daddy is a state of mind,’ but also I think realistically, I’m a dad age, so state of mind and state of play.
“I’ve been doing this [acting] for years. I think we sort of transition into all these other roles, and now I’ve got children — on-screen children, not off-screen, [that] I know of.”
A horny first trailer for the ‘raw’ film teased a secret connection deepening, and Lucas’s world beginning to crumble.
Blyth previously told Variety that he “took control” in one of the film’s “intimate” sex scenes with Tovey.
“It was really intimate, really vivid, and [the intimacy coordinator] was incredible. It felt very organic. It felt like we rehearsed it in a way where I think Russell and I both were made to feel confident and comfortable enough that we could lead it.
“I think it works best when the actors feel emboldened to be able to take control of the choreography and make it feel organic.”
Plainclothes debuted at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, and snatched the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast – which includes Amy Forsyth, Christian Cooke, Maria Dizzia, and Gabe Fazio.
Critics have called Blyth “stellar” and Tovey “unfiltered and raw” in the Magnolia Pictures film, which has a 19 September release date in cinemas.
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