Billy Eichner’s upcoming rom-com Bros is expected to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen, not because it stars Eichner as a podcaster (which is a little strange for him, to be fair) but because it features LGBTQ actors in every major role.
“Honestly, I think it makes the movie better because we all bring our lived experiences as LGBTQ people who had to navigate the world,” Eichner told Variety while on the MTV Movie & TV Awards red carpet. Eichner believes that this is just the beginning of queer representation in media.
“So often in Hollywood, a lot of the great LGBTQ roles historically have gone to straight actors, and they win awards for it. And they get a lot of acclaim and they use it to show people their range,” Eichner added. “And the casting of Bros is not to say that straight should only play straight and gay should only play gay. We’re not making strict rules like that. But what we’re trying to do is, we’re trying to correct an imbalance.”
Eichner is right, many acclaimed actors won their Academy Awards portraying LGBTQ roles (Sean Penn, Tom Hanks, Hilary Swank…the list goes on). “It’s about equity,” Eichner, who co-wrote and stars in Bros added. “It’s about showing people, it’s great that a straight actor can win an Oscar for playing gay, but look how funny and hilarious and warm and delightful LGBTQ actors can be in a wide variety of roles that we don’t normally get to play.”
Bros is directed by Nicholas Stoller from his screenplay that was co-written with Eichner, starring Luke Macfarlane, Ts Madison, Monica Raymund, Guillermo Díaz, Guy Branum, Bowen Yang, and Amanda Bearse. The film is produced by Judd Apatow, Stoller, and Joshua Church and is executive produced by Eichner. Bros will hit theaters on September 30th.
(Via Variety)
