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"Quantico" Creator Joshua Safran Says The Show Goes Beyond Gay And Straight: "It’s A Whole Spectrum"

"Simon's got a complicated relationship, with his sexuality—and himself,” says the out producer.

On the surface, ABC's new FBI/terrorist drama, Quantico, might seem worlds apart from Gossip Girl and Smash, but the three shows have one thing in common: Joshua Safran, the out creator of Quantico, and an executive producer on those gone-but-not-forgotten gay faves.

“I think it’s got elements of both [series] in it,” Safran told NNN recently.

Gossip Girl was about a group of people stuck in high school together and the pressures of that. Smash was about a group of people working together [on Broadway], and what it’s like to try to create something."

“[Quantico] is also very much about a group of people stuck together, working together," he says. "Weirdly, it’s in the same nexus. It’s still about leadership, camaraderie and community.”

Premiering tonight, Quantico sees Bollywood actress (and former Miss Universe Priyanka Chopra as a part of a team of new Bureau recruits, one of whom may be have masterminded the biggest terror attack on New York since 9/11.

Like GG and Smash, Quantico also has a prominent gay character. Though labeling the sexuality of Simon (Tate Ellington) might be premature.

“He’s got a complicated relationship, I think, with his sexuality—and himself,” Safran teases.

“It comes from how we used to always talk about things very black and white. It was always gay or straight and now it’s not. It’s a whole spectrum.”

In tonight's premiere, we see Simon grab a male stranger to take a picture with him—but only so it would appear he has a boyfriend.

Like most of the characters in Quantico, Simon has secrets that will play out over the course of the first season.

Wherever Simon falls on the sexuality spectrum, though, the arrival of a fully out character will undoubtedly shake things up for him: Starting in Episode Two, Rick Cosnett ( Flash , Vampire Diaries actor) appears as FBI analyst Elias Harper.

“Elias is not just there to be a thorn in Simon's side," says Safran. "But there is a gay man who’s beginning to pick up on the subtle signals Simon [is giving off].”

With all those secrets, Safran makes it clear he doesn’t mind if people compare Quantico with a certain red-hot series about a bunch of newbies who may be involved in a crime.

“I would kill to have How to Get Away with Murder’s audience—and interest and excitement,” he confesses.

“I don’t mind if someone says I’m derivative. I think when they watch the show, though, they’ll see that maybe structurally it’s similar, but it's really dealing with something very different.”

Quantico airs Sundays at 10pm on ABC.

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