Guys & Balls: 20 surprising facts about the star-studded gay rom-com ‘The Broken Hearts Club’
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy. The film followed a group of friends in West Hollywood as they navigate friendships, romance, heartbreak and career ups-and-downs.
It stood out against the offerings of gay stories in film at the time since it focused on traditional rom-com storylines rather than heavier themes like AIDS, coming out, and sex.The film also featured early performances from actors that would go on to have established careers like Timothy Olyphant, Billy Porter, and Zach Braff (plus a supporting turn from the Jennfier Coolidge).
Not to mention, it’s written and directed by Greg Berlanti, one of the most successful and powerful gay creative executives in working in Hollywood today, whose next big-screen romance Fly Me To The Moonhits theaters this summer. Scroll on below for 20 facts you may not know about this groundbreaking comedy…The film was Berlanti’s directorial debut, and as he revealed to the Advocate at the time of the release in 2000, “I knew I wanted to show a group of friends, where one character is trying to break away and one character is just entering the group.
Some of the characters are autobiographical.”In that same interview, Berlanti revealed that the characters played by Matt McGrath and Justin Theroux were based on an on-and-off romance he once had himself.Berlanti mentioned in an exclusive Queerty 20th anniversary retrospective that the movie went under the title of 8x10s for the longest time, nicknamed after what actors call their headshots, as he had a “penchant for falling for aspiring actors.”In that same retrospective, it was revealed that Sony agreed to greenlight the $1 million dollar film because of veteran actor John Mahoney’s involvement in the project, as well as “It Boy” actor Timothy Olyphant agreeing to play the lead.Cain revealed to Entertainment Weekly that his agents advised him against playing a gay role at that point in his career: “I was very clear.
