With its newest casting announcement, BROS, the upcoming gay rom-com co-written by and starring Billy Eichner, is now the first studio film to feature an all-LGBTQ+ principal cast. Although independent film studios have been making LGBTQ+ content for ages, studio filmmaking has long been behind on featuring characters and cast members from the LGBTQ+ community. Even a groundbreaking film like Love, Simon, the first major studio rom-com about a gay teen, drew criticism for casting a heterosexual actor in the lead role.
Billy Eichner is co-writing BROS with Nicholas Stoller (The Muppets, Neighbors), who will also direct. Judd Apatow is producing. It will follow the story of two men with commitment issues who attempt a relationship. When BROS was announced in March of this year, it was already making history as the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio. Now, it has pushed its groundbreaking status even further.
Per THR, the landmark casting process behind the film sees every single principal role, including the heterosexual characters, being played by LGBTQ+ individuals. Billy Eichner will be playing the lead, with openly gay Hallmark movie stalwart Luke Macfarlane playing his love interest. Also joining the cast are TS Madison, Miss Lawrence, Symone, Guillermo Díaz, Guy Branum, and Natalie Morales.
Luke Macfarlane can be seen in many Hallmark Christmas films including A Shoe Addict's Christmas and Sense, Sensibility, and Snowmen, but he also starred in the recent Canadian sci-fi series Killjoys. TS Madison is a transgender actress and author who most recently appeared as Hollywood in the critically lauded film Zola. Miss Lawrence, a gender-nonconforming actor, has appeared on Empire, was a regular on its spinoff Star, and also appeared in the Oscar-nominated The United States vs. Billie Holiday.
This will be the first feature film role for Symone, the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race season 13. Guillermo Díaz has been working in the industry since the early 90's, but he is best known for his television work on Weeds and Scandal. Guy Branum is a comedian who hosted the podcast Pop Rocket on the Maximum Fun network in addition to writing on The Mindy Project and Fashion Police.
This is a casting coup that will be remembered for a long time to come. Hollywood's lack of commitment to LGBTQ+ casting, even in LGBTQ+ roles let alone others, will be thrown into stark relief by this project. BROS will come to theaters on Aug. 12, 2022, and will hopefully be a beacon to studios to continue casting projects in this vein in the future.
Source: THR