The LGBTQ-fronted gay rom-com Bros makes history in more ways than one.
Not only is Billy Eichner the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, but it is a historic studio film to feature an entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast, including Luke Macfarlane, Ts Madison, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz, Guy Branum, Miss Lawrence, Symone and more.
Shadow and Act recently spoke with Eichner, Macfarlane, Madison, Lawrence, Jim Rash and director/co-writer Nicholas Stoller on the film's impact, importance and what they wanted to accomplish.
“I think our main goal was to make it really funny,” Eichner told us. “We don’t get a lot of comedies in movie theaters anymore. I grew up going to see great comedies and great romantic comedies and I love the idea of hundreds of people sitting in a movie theater and laughing out loud together. Our other goal was to make it authentic. We get a lot of gay characters who sometimes I feel we’re walking on eggshells around who they are. As much as I love When Harry Met Sally, you can’t just slip two guys in there and tell that same story that wouldn’t be real or honest. I think no matter what your sexual orientation is, if you’re a straight person watching or a queer person watching, you can feel when a movie is lying to you.”
MacFarlane is no stranger to rom-coms, but this one was different for obvious and non-obvious reasons.
“I’ve been privileged enough to be in a lot of rom-coms, but I think a lot of the rom-coms I have done have been sort of heavy on the ‘rom’ and maybe lighter on the ‘com,'” he said. “And I think that this is definitely much heavier on the ‘com’ and the ‘rom.’ is definitely a huge part of it. And there is heart and it lands because of that. For myself, [that’s] what’s different. I think it also subverts it too, because we’re allowed to laugh at ourselves in this movie. I think the queer community doesn’t often get the opportunity to laugh at itself, and we get to do that because we’re all gay people. That’s going to be different for people. We are definitely flawed and we definitely laugh at each other and poke fun at each other.”
For scene-stealers Madison and Lawrence, they hope this marks a new peak for what queer stories look like in film and television, including the folks that are telling the stories.
“I hope the road gets a little easier on in the decision-making rooms,” Lawrence explained. “I hope this film sends a message to the powers that be in Hollywood, to the powers that be in the world, that people like us deserve a space in this industry and we have taken our rightful place in this industry– and to treat us as such through and through. So far working on this project, from the time I stepped foot on set when we filmed this up until this very moment sitting here with you, they [Universal] have created a new blueprint for me and the way we should be treated as actors.”
Madison added, “When people say that it’s the first of this and the first of that, studios should feel embarrassed that they’ve waited this long [or that] they haven’t given opportunities [like this]. So I feel like other studios should take notes–they did it, they took a chance on it, because these are people. These are human beings that have stories that need to be told.”
Watch the full interview below:
Bros is in theaters now.
