Watch: Jake Picking and Jeremy Pope Chat About Their 'Hollywood' Romance

Jake Picking and Jeremy Pope, co-stars of Ryan Murphy's new seven-part Netflix series "Hollywood," had a video chat for MTV news in which they recalled their casting experiences and their work together on the series.

In "Hollywood," an alternate-universe imagining of a pivotal moment that 1940s Tinseltown never actually saw, an African American screenwriter named Archie (Pope) meets – and then falls in love with – an awkward, but handsome, young man from the Midwest... a man who ends up taking the screen pseudonym Rock Hudson (Picking). They become part of an unlikely group that crystallizes around Archie's screenplay and, taking advantage of a unique opportunity to make a boundaries-bursting film, they literally rewrite history... at least, in the imagination of creator Ryan Murphy and his staff of writers and directors (including Janet Mock, who both writes and directs for "Hollywood").

In the course of the mutual interview, Pope recalls that he felt Picking "could trust [Picking] because from day one you were there; you had my back; you were so giving as a screen partner."

"I don't think Archie could have made it the way he did without having Rock by his side," Pope goes on to say, referencing the way the two characters forge a successful and lasting relationship personally while also staking out their nascent careers. In Pope's read of the characters, Rock was someone Archie "could come home to that was going to love him unconditionally, no matter the color of his skin."

In reality, of course, Rock Hudson lived a closeted life. He died from AIDS-related complications in 1985.

Pope praised the depiction of the relationship, which becomes public knowledge in the series when the two men walk in hand-in-hand in front of the press – with many reporters snarling at them for doing so.

Indeed, the relationship is sketched out in the show's opening credits, a fantasia that depicts the main characters scaling the letters of the Hollywood sign. At one point, Pope's character leaps from his letter to the one Picking's Rock Hudson is climbing; when Rock slips a moment later, Archie catches him and hauls him back up. As the credit sequence ends, all the characters have reached the top of their respective letters and stand looking out at the view below. Archie and Rock stand together atop their letter, while all the others stand alone.

O: The Oprah Magazine profiled Pope, taking note of his meteoric rise in the theater world. Pope quickly became a Broadway star, nominated for Tony awards in two different shows during the same season – and all before he landed "Hollywood," which is his breakthrough screen role.

The MTV article profiles Jake Picking, a Boston native whose early years in Hollywood were punctuated with many viewings of vintage films – including the works of Rock Hudson. Before his role as Rock Hudson in "Hollywood," Picking appeared in the 2016 Zac Efron and Robert De Niro comedy "Dirty Grandpa," as well as 2018's "Sicario: Day of the Soldado." Picking will also star in the upcoming film "Top Gun: Maverick."

With "Hollywood," Pope mused, "we're taking an opportunity to show the world what representation looks like. We're showing women in power... we're showing successful black people, talented black people; we're showing the queer community rising."

Added Pope "I just that there's gonna be... someone out there that is going to see the show, see the representation on the show and feel kinda seen and heard and know that there is something tangible out there for them."

"Hollywood" also stars Patti LuPone, Dylan McDermott, Darren Criss, Jim Parsons, and David Corenswet, among many other notables. The series is streaming now at Netflix. Read the EDGE review here

Watch Pope and Pickings' conversation below.