Billy Eichner is about to make history with the big-screen debut of his gay rom-com Bros, the first gay romantic comedy to be given a full theatrical release by a major studio later this year. But in addition to the subject matter, Bros is also notable in that it features an entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast.
In addition to Eichner his co-star, Hallmark movie channel staple Luke Macfarlane, Bros stars Jim Rash (Community), Bowen Yang (Fire Island, Saturday Night Live), Ts Madison (The Ts Madison Experience), Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire), Guillermo DÃaz (Scandal), Guy Branum (The Other Two), and Amanda Bearse (Married …with Children).
In a new interview with Empire, Eichner explained why featuring a LGBTQ+ was so important to him, and how it even enhanced the entire filmmaking process.
“It felt like the right thing to do ethically, and creatively it adds something that’s hard to articulate,” he tells Empire. “To look around and know we’re making this historic movie and that all of us are representing the entire community… it was really fucking magical.”
“In theory, I have no problem with straight actors playing gay if they’re worthy of the role,” Eichner weighs in. “But shouldn’t gay actors get to play our own characters? Can anybody flesh out an LGBTQ+ character like an LGBTQ+ actor?”
In the trailer for the film, which was released last month, Eichner’s character gets meta.
“So, these big movie producers came to me and said, ‘We want you to write a rom-com about a gay couple,” he voiceovers. “‘Something a straight guy might even like and watch with his girlfriend?’ They said, ‘We just want a movie that shows the world that gay relationships and straight relationships are the same, love is love is love.”
“And I said, ‘Love is love is love?’” he asks, incredulously. “No it’s not, that is bullshit!”
Bros will arrive theaters on Sept. 30, 2022. Let’s leave the Bechdel test out of this one.
