While you were obviously already anticipating HBO’s Open for the rare opportunity it offers to hear Ryan Murphy’s thoughts on sexuality, the network has hedged its bets on getting your attention by adding Fringe star Anna Torv and Jennifer Jason Leigh as two of the vessels for said thoughts, as well as for lesbian stuff. The HBO series has been described as concerning “the complex, ever-evolving landscape of sexuality, monogamy and intimacy in relationships.” That landscape will now be partially navigated by Anna Torv and Jennifer Jason Leigh, with all the nuance and emotional complexity that “Created By Ryan Murphy” implies.
In Torv’s first role since the end of Fringe, she’ll ease into playing a yoga instructor, trading traversing alternate universes for being torn between two women: her longtime lover (played by Leigh) an “intensely committed” actress, and a yet-to-be-cast woman named Grace to whom she feels “an instant connection.” They join the already-cast Scott Speedman as Grace’s husband, and Wes Bentley as “a handsome blowhard who loves espousing his theories on human sexuality,” who is not at all a stand-in for Murphy.
Talking to Deadline when the series was first announced, Murphy called Open “an adult show that is very frank in its depiction of sex.” Presumably this means showing how sex only takes place while wearing flannel pajamas—the kind that have tiny little flaps where the God-sanctioned babymaking happens—so this announcement should be very exciting for fans of Torv, Leigh, and families.