![Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Billy-Eichner-and-Luke-Macfarlane-Getty-H-Split-2021.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1)
Billy Eichner‘s Bros will be historic in a couple of ways.
Eichner is already the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, and now the Universal Pictures feature has made history by setting a historic all-LGBTQ principal cast. What’s more, all of the principal heterosexual roles will be played by openly LGBTQ actors and actresses.
Bros, the first gay romantic comedy from a major studio, is described as a smart, swoony and heartfelt comedy about two gay men (Eichner, Luke Macfarlane) maybe, possibly, probably, stumbling toward love. Maybe. They’re both very busy. Eichner co-wrote the script alongside Nicholas Stoller, with whom he worked on Netflix’s Friends From College. Stoller will direct and exec produce alongside Judd Apatow, Eichner and Josh Church (Trainwreck).
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Joining Eichner and Macfarlane (Brothers & Sisters) in the cast are TS Madison (Zola), the transgender author of Light Through the Shade: An Autobiography of a Queen and host of The Queens Supreme Court; Miss Lawrence, a gender non-conforming entertainer whose credits include Empire offshoot Star and The United States vs. Billie Holiday; Symone, an L.A.-based drag queen who won season 13 of RuPaul’s Drag Race; Guillermo Diaz, a veteran actor with roles on Scandal, Weeds and Half Baked; and Guy Branum, the creator and host of TruTV’s Talk Show the Game Show, who previously wrote for Eichner’s Billy on the Street and is now working on Paramount’s How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days update.
“I could not be more proud or excited about the historic nature of the all openly LGBTQ+ cast of Bros. After queer actors have spent decades watching straight actors capitalize both artistically and professionally by playing LGBTQ+ characters, it is a long overdue dream come true to be able to assemble this remarkable, hilarious cast,” Eichner said. “And while Bros may be the first of its kind in several ways, my real hope is that it is only the first of many opportunities for openly LGBTQ+ ensembles to shine and show the world all we are capable of as actors, beyond just being the wacky sidekick, token queer or a straight movie star’s ‘gay best friend.’ And beyond all of that, this cast is fucking hysterical and you’re going to love them.”
Eichner is repped by UTA, 3 Arts and Ziffren Brittenham; Macfarlane is with APA, Management 360 and Goodman Genow; Diaz is with Innovative Artists, Door 24 and Meghan Schumacher Management; Branum is with ICM Partners, Omnipop Talent Group and Cohen Gardner.
Bros is scheduled for release Aug. 12, 2022, by Universal Pictures.
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