A happy love story
Luke Macfarlane makes history starring in first gay rom-com to hit big theatres
For Luke Macfarlane, making the feature film Bros wasn't so much about making history as it is about telling true stories.
The London, Ont., native and costar of the first gay romantic comedy to find its way to mainstream theatres said it's about telling the truth.
“At the end of the day, nobody sets out to make a gay movie. They set out to tell their story, and I'm thrilled to be part of telling this story,” said Macfarlane, 42, a veteran stage, television and film actor. “What I'm more excited about is that it's a fun film and it's a really good film.”
Bros premièred at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month and was well received by critics. It opens Friday.
The film stars Bill Eichner, the first openly gay man to co-write, produce and star in his own major studio film.
The film's other first is having an entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast, including Macfarlane, who has previously starred as a gay man in the TV series Brothers and Sisters.
Bros tells the story of Bobby Leiber, a New Yorker who hosts a queer history podcast and is director of the first national LGBTQ+ history museum. At 40, Bobby has given up on the notion of finding the love of his life until he meets Aaron, a macho lawyer played by Macfarlane.
“Gay love stories have been around with us since the beginning of time, so it does feel good to be a part of it,” said Macfarlane.
“But they've been stories about suffering, about coming out, or of sickness — Brokeback Mountain, Philadelphia — and they were being told by straight actors. Finally, we're telling a story about happy endings. I think the goal of this movie is can a straight person see themselves through the eyes of someone in a gay relationship and take something from it?”
Starring in a feature film has been among Macfarlane's career goals.
“I wanted to be on Broadway and I've checked that box,” he said of the Tony Award-winning revival of The Normal Heart. “I wanted to act in television and I've checked that box. But getting a role in a studio feature film has been the most elusive, hardest to achieve.
“The competition for leading man roles is fierce and I wondered if I'd ever get to check that box.”
Macfarlane attended The Juilliard School for the arts in New York where he starred in productions of Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The School of Night, Blue Window, The Grapes of Wrath and As You Like It, before graduating in 2003.
Macfarlane is working on a new television series, Platonic, for Apple TV+, created by Bros director and co-writer Nicholas Stoller, starring alongside Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen.
He said his love of theatre persists. “I do miss the stage,” said Macfarlane, who lives in Los Angeles. “I'm just looking for the right project to get back to New York, but there's nothing in the works right now.”