They wanted a “One Direction vibe” says Russell Tovey of his new role in the HBO gay drama, ‘Looking’.

Tovey, who is out and proud, will star alongside Glee’s Jonathan Groff as one of a group of gay men living in San Francisco in what’s been called the gay answer to Lena Dunham’s hit series, Girls.

Tovey will play an English video game geek in the eight-part series.

“I wanted to play American but they wanted the whole One Direction, Downton Abbey vibe because Brits are cool,” the Being Human star, who has made a career out of playing straight lads, told The London Evening Standard in an interview.

This month, Tovey also plays a closeted footballer on the West End stage in the play, The Pass, which explores homophobia in the sport.

For Tovey the theme is very up-to-the-minute. “Now Tom Daley has come out, a sportsman at the top of his game,” he says. “And yet there are no footballers who have come out, and the ones who do end up as tragedy stories. Robbie Rogers left the game, Justin Fashanu killed himself. There’s a rumour that a major sporting brand has had a six-figure sponsorship deal on the table for the past five years for the first Premiership footballer to come out and no one’s taken it.”

Looking premieres on Sky Atlantic this month. We can’t wait!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1u1CkRFVRs