One of the the most memorable scenes in Bros was originally cut, reveals director Nicholas Stoller.
Written by Stoller with Billy Eichner, Bros has made history as the first gay rom-com to be produced by a major Hollywood studio with an almost entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast.
The film follows Bobby Lieber (Eichner), a podcaster and radio show presenter, as he accepts a position at Manhattan’s new National LGBTQ+ History Museum and falls for macho lawyer Aaron Shepard (Luke Macfarlane).
Bros received universal acclaim from critics (check out our five-star review here), with praise aimed at the performances of the cast, its refreshing script and its authentic depiction of queerness and the gay male experience.
To coincide with the UK release, Stoller revealed in an interview with GAY TIMES that one of the most-discussed scenes in the film almost didn’t make the final cut.
“We tried something where we lost the Christmas four-gy and the conversation where Billy says he’s uncomfortable having an open relationship,” said Stoller.
“It suddenly felt, 100%, like a straight rom-com. I don’t know why. It just did. Something got lost. I was like, ‘This doesn’t work at all,’ and they put it back in.”
The scene in question sees Bobby and Aaron proposition the latter’s former crush Josh (Ryan Faucett) for a threesome, before another random party-goer Steve (Brock Ciarlelli) joins in to hilarious effect.
Stoller continued to explain the importance of the film’s queer scenes, reminiscing on a conversation with Eichner where he said Bros “can’t be a movie where it’s a straight couple and you just take out the woman and put in a man.
“It has to be a queer love story, a truly gay love story.”
The writer and director, known for his work on
Billy Eichner
Luke Macfarlane
Nicholas Stoller