American Gigolo’s Fate Is Uncertain Ahead Of A Potential Season 2

After serving 15 years behind bars on a wrongful murder conviction, male escort Julian Kaye (Jon Bernthal) spent the inaugural season of Showtime’s American Gigolo acclimating to his post-release life in modern-day Los Angeles. That included everything from navigating complicated relationships with his former love Michelle (Gretchen Mol) and troubled mother, as well as reconciling his place in the sex work industry, past and present. As if that wasn’t enough, Julian also had a complex murder mystery to contend with while seeking the truth about the person who framed him and the much larger conspiracy at hand.

Though Showtime has yet to cancel or renew American Gigolo for Season 2, Mol, for one, has certainly presented her case. “It’s a piece of escapism that we don’t usually see. We don’t get a lot of shows like this anymore,” she told InsideHook in September. “What I love about the show is there is a darkness to it, but there are very real scenes about love, loss and abuse. But it is still a fun and stylish ride. I hope that there’s a good balance there and that people can enjoy it.”

Working against the series, however, is the fact that the production process was marred with offscreen drama, as multiple personnel changes led to several filming delays. What’s more, Season 1 was ultimately cut down to eight episodes from the original 10-episode order. Also taking into consideration several lackluster reviews, it seems safe to say that American Gigolo’s future is uncertain.

A renewal is hardly outside the realm of possibility though. In the meantime, here’s everything to know about what a potential American Gigolo Season 2 might look like, as well as the behind-the-scenes drama that might not bode well for the series.

The American Gigolo Season 2 Cast

Though any possible future casting announcements remain forthcoming, in addition to Bernthal and Mol, the first season starred Rosie O’Donnell (Detective Sunday), Lizzie Brocheré (Isabelle), Gabriel LaBelle (Johnny, aka a younger version of Julian), Leland Orser (Richard), Wayne Brady (Lorenzo), Alex Fernandez (Panish), Sandrine Holt (Olga), Yolonda Ross (Lizzy), and Laura Liguori (Elizabeth).

Though Bernthal told GQ in April that he was surprised he was chosen to play the lead role originated by Richard Gere in the 1980 movie version. “I do not believe that I possess any kind of natural sex appeal,” he said. “I’ve always looked at myself as this weird-looking guy.”

Regardless, executive producer Jonathan Littman revealed to TheWrap that casting Bernthal as Julian was key. “Jon has so many levels of depth,” Littman explained. “He’s an incredible actor. He can bring both things: He can bring the swagger when you want the swagger, but also the real hurt that always underlined the story the way we imagined it to be.”

Meanwhile, he added that finding the rest of the ensemble was a relatively “easy process,” crediting former showrunner David Hollander for the “inspired” decision to cast O’Donnell for the gender-swapped role of Detective Sunday, a role that Hector Elizondo originated.

Why Was American Gigolo Season 1 Cut Short?

On the topic of Hollander, the original showrunner was abruptly fired in April following a misconduct investigation. O’Donnell noted in a Vanity Fair interview that she was “very happy to work with him” after seeing his work on Ray Donovan and considered it a “wonderful thing for me in my career to work with someone who was such a genius,” adding that much of the cast felt the same.

“Then he got let go, which was weird. The reason a lot of us did the show was really to work with him,” O’Donnell told the magazine. “Then this happened sort of out of the blue. We were told one day that David was let go, and they didn’t really explain why. We just [had] a new team come in, and we had a couple of weeks off while they tried to figure out what to do, and then we went back and finished it.”

Bringing in a new creative team in the middle of the series was a “very big shift in direction and energy,” she said, adding that Hollander’s absence left everybody confused because “nobody really understood what was happening.” Three weeks later, co-executive producer David Bar Katz also departed the series, following the appointment of Nikki Toscano as the new showrunner and executive producer. This, in addition to another actor’s reported unavailability to film, caused another two-week production shutdown, and the team ultimately decided to end the season early with Episode 8.

The American Gigolo Season 2 Premiere Date

Should American Gigolo receive a Season 2 renewal, it could still be a bit of a wait until it premieres on Showtime. Filming for Season 1 began in July 2021 and didn’t wrap until almost a year later, ahead of its September 2022 premiere. Of course, there were staffing delays to consider, along with those associated with getting a new show off the ground. For now, late 2023 seems like the earliest reasonable possibility for another installment, though that, of course, will depend on if or when they get the green light to start shooting Season 2.

This post will be updated as more American Gigolo Season 2 details become available.