"Bros” writer, producer and star Billy Eichner, and stars Luke Macfarlane, Jim Rash, TS Madison and Miss Lawrence join CinemaBlend’s Corey Chichizola to dive deep behind the scenes of their new rom-com. Watch as they discuss making sure all of their favorite jokes made the cut, LGBTQ+ representation for younger generations, cameos and more!
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00:00 I've fallen in love with a lot of really talented, beautiful, straight women.
00:04 [laughter]
00:06 Like Billie.
00:07 I'm the Candace Cameron of bros.
00:09 Oh my god, do you guys remember straight people?
00:11 Yeah, they had a nice run.
00:13 [music]
00:19 Billie, I saw you spoke about kind of expecting more of a pushback from the studio
00:26 just based on the context and the screenplay and I was wondering if there were any moments
00:31 or jokes or dialogue that specifically you were like, "Ooh, I hope this makes it."
00:37 A lot of it.
00:38 All of it at the beginning, you know.
00:40 But I said to Nick, "If I'm going to do it and you want me to do it with you," because
00:43 he brought the idea to do a rom-com about a gay couple to me, I said, "It needs to be
00:47 unapologetic.
00:48 Like, it needs to be as sexy and explosive as any Judd Apatow comedy or any Nick Stoller
00:54 comedy for that matter.
00:55 Forgetting Sarah Marshall has that classic scene it opens with where Jason Segel is completely
00:59 naked and arguing with his girlfriend and falling apart.
01:02 That's funny and it's shocking and it's provocative and it's sweet.
01:06 It's all of those things, you know.
01:07 And it feels very real.
01:08 It feels very real and that's why it's funny.
01:11 And I said, "I don't want to hold back.
01:13 It has to be unapologetic.
01:14 We have to go," pardon the pun, "like balls to the wall with this literally and figuratively."
01:21 And that was always a priority for me.
01:23 And luckily, Universal, probably because Judd and Nick have had so much success taking kind
01:28 of outside the box comedians like me and building movies around them, I think Universal felt
01:33 a lot of confidence.
01:34 And I think Universal also saw that the culture now has evolved to a place where people want
01:40 these stories.
01:41 To get people to the movie theater, you need to give them something new and fresh.
01:44 It can't be just a comedy.
01:46 It has to be an event.
01:47 And Bros is that.
01:48 I don't want any Hollywood bullshit.
01:50 Well, I mean, it's so much happened on set.
01:56 Yeah, I mean, they got a lot, a lot, a lot of footage.
02:00 And we know that there is a reason for a cutting room floor, right?
02:05 Otherwise, you have a five-hour long movie.
02:09 But I feel like the final cut has a really good balance of everything.
02:16 Yes, there were a lot of super hilarious moments that didn't make it.
02:23 But I feel like everything serves its purpose.
02:26 Yes.
02:27 Yeah, I mean, the cut I thought was good.
02:29 It was good.
02:30 It was good.
02:31 But there's so much that didn't make it that we thought was very funny.
02:37 I mean, we left set and went back to our trailers and laughed.
02:40 We came back off a break and sat back down in our chairs to do retakes of some stuff.
02:44 And we laughed and laughed and repeated some of the stuff because we were like, "This
02:48 going in here.
02:49 This has to go in here because this is so freaking funny."
02:54 But I do believe that the final cut of the movie did its justice to what we did.
03:00 I think so.
03:02 There's plenty that was so funny.
03:04 And then obviously, you have to cut some stuff along the way.
03:07 I mean, I particularly, we all, and I can't remember when they came in to announce that
03:13 Deborah Messing had shown up.
03:16 We knew we were all going to gasp collectively.
03:20 But then everyone was improvising their reaction to Deborah Messing.
03:24 I think T.S.
03:25 Madison quite literally said, "Who's Deborah Messing?"
03:28 Which I think Luke's character says actually in the movie.
03:32 But I remember saying, "She's my hall pass."
03:36 And Dot had a funny one.
03:37 I can't remember.
03:38 All those aren't in there, but I thoroughly enjoyed that we all had a very personal reaction
03:42 to Deborah Messing.
03:43 Yeah.
03:44 I mean, just to move on from that, I'd love to talk more about that sequence.
03:47 That cameo is so hilariously bonkers.
03:51 I love that she was very happy to make fun of herself.
03:54 Can you speak to what that experience was like filming?
03:57 Well, I can't speak for Deborah.
03:59 I cannot get in her body.
04:00 And as much as I would want to try to understand her, but I imagine that was gloriously fun
04:05 for her.
04:06 I don't know her well enough to answer, other than the fact that she was hilarious and the
04:11 idea of taking what I'm sure is her experience sometimes to be some kind of a godmother or
04:18 a therapist.
04:20 So that was shot at the same place where we were shooting, so I did watch from the monitors
04:25 and they were just take after take of just perfect.
04:29 I mean, I can't imagine how many young people are going to go to the movies and finally
04:35 kind of see those bananas.
04:36 I mean, that's so cool.
04:37 When you said that, I just pictured it in my mind and I got chills.
04:42 That's really unbelievable.
04:43 I mean, it's crazy it took so long, but I'm so glad that we did it in what I hope is the
04:49 right way.
04:50 I remember my older sister going to see Dirty Dancing and then the family discussion that
04:54 happened after because that movie was so provocative for its time.
04:57 Dirty Dancing.
04:58 I hope the exact same thing happens for Bros.
05:00 I saw it twice in the movie theater.
05:02 T.S., I was so excited to see you in this cast.
05:07 I loved seeing you in Zola earlier.
05:09 I loved seeing you on the big screen.
05:11 Can you speak to kind of creating this character who has all of this power to her?
05:16 Well, usually when trans women are cast in movies and film and television and stuff like
05:21 that, we're cast to be prostitutes.
05:25 We were murdered.
05:26 Somebody's trying to find out.
05:30 I appreciate that because it does tell the story that is really going on in our community.
05:36 However, I do like to see us played in a different light, like a board director, some woman with
05:42 power making decisions in the world because that exists as well.
05:47 When I got the role, because I read for everybody's part, I did.
05:52 And then when I got the part of Angela, I was like, "Okay, well, she's a woman that
05:58 knows what she wants and she's a boss here in the room."
06:03 I don't know what it is that her and Wanda have, I don't think they did a bad line
06:07 together.
06:10 But I was really excited to be a part of the movie, especially being T.S.
06:15 Madison, honey, and all that it encompasses with T.S.
06:17 Madison.
06:18 Hello, is it on?
06:19 How many times has someone said that?
06:20 Well, they owe me that.
06:21 This bitch Rico.
06:22 Right, precisely.
06:23 If we don't do this, we're letting the heterosexual terrorists win.
06:28 There are trans terrorists too.
06:30 Caitlyn Jenner.
06:31 Luke, if I can pivot to you, CinemaBlend, our audience, we're big on the Hallmark Cinematic
06:37 Universe, of which your fans are legion.
06:41 I was wondering what you were hoping that your fans from those projects will get out
06:45 of seeing Bros.
06:47 And if, I guess, it's any of interest to go back and tell a queer story under that umbrella.
06:52 Yeah, for sure.
06:55 I think that they're going to get it.
06:57 I think people are drawn to the Hallmark movies because there is a sort of desert of love
07:02 stories right now, and people go to Hallmark because I think they love watching people
07:07 fall in love.
07:08 And I've fallen in love with a lot of really talented, beautiful, straight women.
07:14 Like Billie Eilish.
07:15 I'm the Candace Cameron of Bros.
07:17 So I think that they will take a lot from it.
07:19 I think one of the things that straight audiences are going to take from it, and I know a lot
07:23 of queer people watch Hallmark as well, but it's a bit of a peek behind the curtain at
07:26 what it's like for two men to date in New York City in 2022.
07:30 So I think anybody that's curious about anybody else's lives, which is frankly why we go to
07:34 movies to learn about other people's lives, I think they'll absolutely take something
07:37 from it.
07:38 Gay guys are my jam.
07:40 Awesome.
07:41 Billie, I was very taken by the fact that obviously there's this great love story that's
07:45 being told, but also the movie's very much kind of taking the piss out of queer people
07:50 and showing the very unsexy parts of trying to date.
07:54 I was wondering if you could speak to the importance of that and bringing the Grindr
07:58 deadpan messages to life.
08:00 I thought it was a hilarious choice.
08:01 Yeah, I mean, I made the movie with Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller.
08:05 They happen to be straight.
08:06 I happen to be gay.
08:08 But one thing that bonds us all is that those guys have made some of the funniest movies
08:11 of the past 20 years.
08:13 Bridesmaids and 40-Year-Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and the list goes on and on.
08:17 Knocked Up.
08:18 Knocked Up, Trainwreck.
08:19 So what bonds us is that we love a great comedy.
08:22 Our goal was to make it as laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish as possible.
08:26 We don't get a lot of comedies like that anymore.
08:29 I love going to the movie theater and sitting with hundreds of people and laughing.
08:33 It feels like a concert.
08:34 It feels fun.
08:35 It's uplifting.
08:36 It's comforting.
08:37 It's just fun.
08:38 It's like going on a ride and we don't get that experience anymore.
08:41 And then beyond making it funny, I really wanted it to be honest.
08:44 You know, I think we have seen more LGBTQ characters in the past few years popping up
08:49 in different shows and things, but sometimes I feel that we're drawn in a very one-dimensional
08:54 way or the creators are walking on eggshells around what gay life really is, and I didn't
08:59 want to do that.
09:00 The first thing I said to Nick Stoller, who I wrote it with and who directed it and who
09:04 did a wonderful job, is, you know, I don't want to do When Harry Met Sally, but we're
09:08 thrown in two gay guys instead.
09:10 Like it has to—that's not how the story would go with two men.
09:13 Not in 2022, certainly.
09:15 I don't even think those old rules apply to young straight couples anymore.
09:19 And so I wanted it to be honest and authentic.
09:22 I wanted it to be sexy and romantic and awkward and silly and funny and just show these two
09:27 men falling in love in a very charming, relatable, but honest way.
09:32 Gay sex was more fun when straight people were uncomfortable with it.
09:36 Billy was great.
09:37 Billy was amazing.
09:38 Billy gave us room and space to be creative, you know, to tell the story of our characters
09:50 the way that we saw it.
09:51 And so he was an incredible collaborator as well as director.
09:56 And I think that is why Nick Stoller and Billy, I think that's what makes them so genius in
10:02 this project is that they understood that because we are made—this cast is made up
10:09 and is a representation of so many of the letters of the LGBTQ community, it's kind
10:14 of impossible to only have one point of view by a director.
10:18 And the fact that they collaborated and offered and gave us space for our input, I think that's
10:26 where a lot of the magic comes from in this movie.
10:29 He is—well, I would say two things.
10:32 One is very collaborative in the sense that I think he wanted all these characters to
10:37 be fleshed out even more so from everyone's take on their own personal—we always shot
10:42 what he and Nick had on the page because it was great and gold.
10:46 But I think the spirit of him was also within himself because we would be sitting at that
10:50 table and then it would cut and I would watch Billy, you know, take the actor hat off and
10:55 put on the, you know, the writer, producer, everything.
11:00 And he often was, like he was making sure that we were hitting all the right notes,
11:04 not just with the comedy but with the messages here and there and that we were making fun
11:10 of ourselves but we loved ourselves.
11:13 And that's a fine line to find, you know?
11:15 So that no one watching this movie is feeling judged, they're just being able to laugh
11:19 at themselves.
11:20 But we are having fun.
11:22 This happens to be bisexual awareness week and no one has acknowledged it!
11:29 I was very taken with this kind of Greek chorus that y'all had in this, you know, board
11:35 meeting environment.
11:36 Can you speak to kind of the dynamic of filming those scenes and the chemistry the group of
11:42 you had?
11:43 Yeah, I mean, it was fun.
11:45 It was naturally fun, too.
11:47 It wasn't forced at all.
11:48 I think all of us knew that we had a job to do and that was to make sure that we get our
11:55 point of view across because we are talking about sharing our history as LGBTQIA people
12:02 to the world.
12:04 And that was the heart and soul and the root of that boardroom.
12:09 And when you have a group of unapologetic LGBTQ people, you're going to get nothing
12:15 but laughter anyway, right?
12:17 And we all mean business.
12:19 I think that's kind of the fabric of who we are as LGBTQ people in real life is that we
12:26 mean business and we demand respect and we demand to be heard.
12:32 And when you bring all of those strong personalities and those strong points of views together
12:37 at a board table, you get magic and that's what you get in bros.
12:41 Yes.
12:42 Lesbian History Month was in March!
12:44 Nobody said a goddamn thing!
12:46 Of course lesbians get a month and we get a week.
12:49 A lot of tension.
12:51 No, I'm just kidding.
12:53 It was, I've said, well, you sit in a circle and so we obviously as a board were sitting
13:00 in a circle and that means for a pretty long day of shooting because you have a lot of
13:03 coverage you're going to go all the way around that table and say these things many times
13:06 and there's some improv and everything involved.
13:09 So the dynamic was, you know, you can't get a better dynamic than spending three days
13:14 together in the same room.
13:15 So you get to know people very well.
13:18 Yeah, I mean, how was just kind of the energy of the scenes and the way you guys are interrupting
13:24 each other?
13:25 I'm sure there were bits happening.
13:26 Yes.
13:27 Oh, plenty.
13:28 Well, Billy would, I remember when we first started shooting, Billy said, let's just ramp
13:33 up and be pretty much in the heat of yelling at each other and then eventually, because
13:37 he sort of had the first line, he would overtake the whole thing and get the scene started.
13:41 So we always had energy going into it, which is just kind of fun because you can say whatever
13:46 you want, which they may or may not use.
13:48 But yeah, and it was a very collaborative feel.
13:51 We would just totally shoot what was on the page and then we would improvise or Billy
13:55 would come up with something on the fly, throw it in there.
13:58 So by the end you had, I'm sure they have some, I mean, there's so much stuff on the
14:02 floor that will find its life somewhere else.
14:05 Happy Pride!
14:06 Happy Pride!
14:07 Now I have to go to a Pride party and you're both too old to be in the pool.
14:11 Please leave.
14:12 [music]
14:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]