Forget what the haters are saying -- Bros is actually really great.
Co-written and starring Billy Eichner alongside an all-LGBTQ+ principal cast that includes love interest and Hallmark Channel alum Luke Macfarlane, the Universal Pictures film is making history as the first gay romantic comedy to be released in theaters by a major studio. And despite recent controversy about box office numbers and unfair criticism from some online audiences, the film is heartfelt, emotional, hilarious, and just the type of queer-centered counter-programming we need considering the current state of the world right now.
Out got the chance to speak to Eichner and Macfarlane (who also grace the cover of the September/October issue) to talk about crafting the film, the impact Bros will have on queer audiences, and more.
"My gay friends are the majority of my friends at this point in my life," Eichner tells Out about highlighting not just queer love, but also queer friendships, in Bros. "That doesn't mean I don't have straight friends of course, but a lot of the closest people in my life are other gay people. And I've rarely seen our lives represented with any kind of authenticity and with joy and with romance. A story that's about the good things in life as opposed to the struggle of being gay, which is often what we're given by Hollywood."
He continued:
"I thought it was important to make a movie like that. Not just for LGBTQ+ audiences, but also for straight audiences who so often get either a very cartoonish version of our lives that's very one-dimensional. Or we're the best friend or the sidekick. Or a very tragic version of our lives. And for me and my gay friends, not that our lives have been without challenges, but we love being gay. It's a joyful, fun, sexy, interesting existence. And I wanted to capture that."
"I often think of gay men of a certain age that think they have it figured out because they've got a great apartment, and a great body, and maybe a new BMW. But I think the hardest thing is love, and so much of Aaron's journey is figuring out that he doesn't actually know how to be in love because he's never done it," Macfarlane says of playing a gay character of a certain age who is still messy and learning and figuring things out for himself. "He's done all the things. The Velvet Rage is something that's often talked about or The Best Boy Syndrome. You think you do all the things the correct way, but you're missing something huge in your life and that's love. So I love getting to tell that story."
Bros is now playing in theaters.
RELATED | Meet Ryan Faucett, the Bros Hunk We Couldn't Take Our Eyes Off Of
