Over the past few years, there’s been a ton of conversation around the importance of representation and diversity on screen. There’s great power in one’s story being reflected back at them, especially for young people who might be in a disenfranchised group. Billy Eichner’s new romantic comedy Bros is breaking ground with its cast of queer actors, and Eichner recently discussed with CinemaBlend the potential impact the comedy can have on young people looking for LGBTQ+ representation.
Ahead of filming Bros made headlines for featuring a cast entirely made of queer actors. That cast is lead by none other than Billy Eichner and Hallmark favorite Luke Macfarlane, who play the titular Bros turned boyfriends throughout the movie’s 115-minute runtime. As you can see in the video above, I had the privilege of speaking with the dynamic duo ahead of the new raunchy comedy’s release, where Eichner spoke about the likelihood of young people finally seeing themselves on a big screen rom-com. As he put it,
That’s so cool. As you said it just pictured it in my mind and I got chills. You know, that’s really unbelievable. It’s crazy that it took so long, but I’m so glad that we did it in what I hope is the right way.
Billy Eichner wears a bunch of different hats in Bros; aside from starring as Bobby he’s also an executive producer and co-writer of the movie’s screenplay. As such, he’s been intimately involved in the movie’s filming and journey to theaters. While Eichner hoped that he brought together the project in the “right way” one can clearly see how specific and methodical he was about bringing this new type of rom-com to life.
Bros is groundbreaking for its cast and the major step forward regarding queer represntation, but it also delivers on classic romantic comedy tropes. And as such, it’ll deliver for LGBTQ+ folks, as well as straight audiences just looking for a fun day at the movies. In our same interview, Luke Macfarlane explained how he’s hoping that folks who see their first queer love story in Bros will hopefully continue discussion about its contents, saying:
I remember my older sister going to see Dirty Dancing, and then the family discussion that happened after. Because that movie was so provocative for its time. Dirty Dancing. I hope the same thing happens for Bros.
While Bros delivers non-stop laughs (check out our review here), the movie does have an endearing love story with its two protagonists. What’s more, the movie peppers in important LGBTQ+ history, and addressed how queer folks are often written out of history. Bros also features multiple powerful trans women in positions of power, which is revolutionary in itself.
Luckily for Luke Macfarlane, the conversations that follow Bros are just days away from starting. The critical response has been overwhelmingly positive, and it’s sitting at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing this story. We’ll just have to see if audiences feel similarly pleased with this new romantic comedy. For his part, Billy Eichner returned to Billy on the Street to help promote the movie.
Bros hits theaters on September 30th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
