How Billy Eichner Broke Barriers With the Proudly Queer Rom-Com ‘Bros’
unapologetically tweeted, might have contributed to straight audiences bypassing the film. For Eichner, it made sense to cast the film with actors from the LGBTQ+ community. “Historically, when you look at who’s gotten the opportunities to play the most high-profile, the most widely distributed movies that centered LGBTQ characters, they’ve almost always been played by straight actors and actresses, who use it as opportunities to show their range and show us how serious and brave they are,” Eichner told TheWrap before the film’s release. “And they win awards and their career gets to grow as a result of playing those roles.
And it has so rarely happened in the reverse — with the LGBTQ actors who were bold enough to say, ‘I’m LGBTQ and I still should have access to a great Hollywood career,’ they weren’t getting the opportunities to play our own roles.“‘Bros’ is not making any rules about who should play what,” he continued, “but I did think it was a fun opportunity to flip the script, right?
Flip the way it’s usually done and say, ‘Hey, there are so many hilarious LGBTQ actors and comedians out there.’” Of course, when he was working on the script with Stoller and producer Judd Apatow, making a landmark film for queer cinema was not his top priority. “We never sat down — Nick and Judd and I — and said, ‘Let’s make a historic movie,’ or ‘This is about representation.’ I mean, yes, that’s part of it,” Eichner said.
