Studio Bosses Never Told Us Bros Was ‘Too Gay’ Or To Censor The Film, Says Billy Eichner

Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane, stars of the highly buzzed about gay rom-com Bros made a recent stop in Sydney on their worldwide promotional tour in support of their film.

Speaking to the Star Observer in a suite at the Park Hyatt in Sydney, the two actors were still smiling from their experience at the Australian premiere of the film the night before.

The surprisingly soft-spoken and thoughtful Eichner, said, “It was really fun; it was really exciting. The audience loved it and we just had a blast.”

“It feels great, you know,” Eichner said when asked about the raves the film received from critics.  “I’m just very thankful to be a part of it and to have gotten the movie made and for it to be having an impact on LGBTQI audiences who go see it and straight people too.” 

‘We Wanted To Make A Funny Movie’

Eichner not only stars in the film but he also co-wrote the script with director Nicholas Stoller and served as one of the film’s executive producers, along with Judd Apatow.

“You know, we just wanted to make a really funny movie at the end of the day, but also, obviously, we want LGBTQ folks; gay men, to see themselves in a way that feels authentic, so it feels great. I’m very grateful.”

Surprisingly, for a film which is gleefully and unapologetically gay, Eichner said  Bros didn’t meet a lot of resistance from the studio in terms of its gay content. “Once we pitched it to Universal they seemed really enthusiastic from the beginning,” he said.

“You know, they never said it’s too gay, or it’s too this or it’s too that. I think as a studio, like all other major studios, it took them a long time to get to this point. They’ve existed for over a century and I’ve never made a movie like this. So in that way, it took a very long time, but once we came along, I think they were very ready for it and they’ve been very supportive. They never censored us.”

‘Gay People Exist All Around The Year’

 

Releasing Bros in the fall seemed like a surprising move on the part of Universal, rather than a more calculated release during Pride month celebrations in June, but it is a decision which the disarmingly charming and open Macfarlane defends and says was a deliberate move.

“It’s important to know that sort of gay people exist all around the year, not just that one time of the year, “ he said. “Not to take away from the huge importance of Pride, but I think that everybody involved said, ‘we’d like this to actually fit in at a different time.’”

While Bros finds a deep well of humour in popular gay culture, the script remains critical of internalised homophobia among some gay men who use hyper-masculinity as a shield from being seen as weak because they are gay. 

‘Be Yourself’

Canadian-born Macfarlane, whose character Aaron has chosen to stay away from a career path he dreams of because he is scared of being perceived as too gay, said, “It is interesting watching the movie because, at the beginning of it, Aaron, has this arc that he goes on. He is more shut down and he is a little bit more afraid of embracing things that might be perceived as more typically gay.”

“Whenever I watch that, I’m always like, ‘Oh Aaron, man, I wish he could just sort of figure it out a little bit faster’. But he, unlike me, didn’t have the sort of exposure and the sort of welcoming you know, family or community or school that said, like, ‘be yourself. Yourself is gonna be the most interesting.’”

Macfarlane believes honesty about oneself is vitally important and said, “Yeah, I think that’s a very important part of I think of any artists life. I don’t want to sound so pretentious, but I think, really like Billy’s story, or Bros, you’re telling who you are and that is going to make you successful. I truly do believe that.”

Taking On A Bro Persona

Eichner, building on the topic of masculinity and honesty said, “The topic of masculinity and the way we play with it a Bros was inspired by a segment I did on my show Billy on the Street, where I took on this bro persona years ago, actually with Jason Sudeikis. We did a segment together and I did my usual Billy on the Street thing, but it was one of the only times I changed my persona.”

“Instead of being kind of loud and flamboyant, I took on this more kind of alpha male jocular bro-y type of persona with the baseball cap and the sports jersey and I and I had a gay friend of mine tell me he thought I looked hotter that way. Right? And I like lowered my voice and all of that, and he was really attracted to that all of a sudden.”

“I’ve known him for like 20 years and he’s never showed any signs of interest. And so all of a sudden he did and I thought that was a really interesting, fascinating, hilarious, kind of sad observation, you know? And I think for not all gay men, obviously, but I think a certain gay man, especially in my generation, and older, maybe we put a certain type of masculinity on a pedestal.”

“I still think it goes on to a degree today. And I think that as much as we criticize it, it’s also something that we’re drawn to. I think it’s a complicated topic, and I thought that was it was one worth exploring.”

Macfarlane laughing, said, “It’s so interesting. In our age, like Abercrombie and Fitch is being fed to us. There’s all these hot guys and they’re brothers. They’re just kind of hanging out shirtless and wrestling?”

Coming Out

When asked about whether or not they ever regretted coming out, both men said no.

“I’ve never regretted it,” said Eichner.

“I mean, I came out to my friends and my family when I was in college, and I was always out as a performer. I was never in. From my earliest days doing comedy on stage in New York, I talked about being gay. I talked about gay sex. And for people who liked that sort of a thing, it was great, and if people walked out, they walked out. I never really cared that much about it. And I’m still like that. I was always really unapologetic about it; that’s always been exciting for me, actually. I like that and I like if it’s provocative to people that I think that’s fun.”

“It is interesting,” says Macfarlane. “When you have a sort of public career you kind of have to come out a second time. I think I was 21 when I came out to my family, my friends and my classmates, but then when you have a career and all of a sudden people don’t know who you are, you have to do it a second time. I had the opportunity to sort of get to meet some people that were closeted professionally, and it just didn’t seem worth it.”

Casting LGBTQI Actors

Aside from Eichner and Macfarlane, the cast of Bros is composed of primarily out LGBTQ actors (Dot-Marie Jones, Jim Rash, TS Madison, Bowen Yang, and Guillermo Diaz to name a few), a move which Eichner said made Bros even better.

“They’re all hilarious and many of them haven’t gotten an opportunity to shine in a big mainstream project like this, getting this type of wide release all over the world. I think historically in Hollywood, a lot of the most high profile LGBTQ roles have often been played by famous straight people, and that those performances have been fantastic.”

“But we often don’t get to play ourselves. And we certainly don’t get to play the major straight roles either. So, you know, I think this was an opportunity to flip the script in that way and give people from our community, a great opportunity to be funny on the screen,” added Eichner. 

Bros is coming to cinemas in Australia on October 27, 2022