Bros stars reveal Liam Hemsworth almost starred in the gay rom-com

EXCLUSIVE: Bros' Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane tell Yahoo Lifestyle that Liam Hemsworth almost starred in the gay rom-com. Read more.

Video transcript

- Congratulations, guys, on the film. I really enjoyed it. And it's so nice to be watching a rom-com on the big screen.

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah.

LUKE MACFARLANE: With people.

- With people, getting the reactions. How does it feel to be in Australia premiering the film?

BILLY EICHNER: It's so exciting. This is my first time. I love it. I need to come back when I'm not working.

- Definitely.

BILLY EICHNER: But it's been great. The audiences have been great. People have been really enthusiastic and very supportive.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Yeah. I feel like Australians are known for their sense of humor, so they've been very receptive to-- to the movie. It's been nice.

- And it was nice to see so many people dressed up and everything at the premiere last night.

BILLY EICHNER: It was really fun.

- "Bros" is the first like gay rom-com released by a major studio. What do you think 18-year-old you would have--

LUKE MACFARLANE: This is a gay film?

[LAUGHTER]

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah, sorry. We should have told you.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Oh my gosh. I have to rethink my whole performance. Just realizing.

BILLY EICHNER: I think it would have been so impactful to see when I was a kid. A lot of the stories that we got were about gay men suffering and being in the closet and sort of about the challenges of being gay and-- which are all very important stories to tell, but we didn't get many comedies, many joyful movies about being gay and about being single and gay and navigating dating and relationships and love. And I think it's really important.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Yeah. I mean, so much of seeing a film kind of says to the world, like this is normal, this is OK, this is cool. And you know, I think about like my mom and dad going on a date night and maybe taking in "Bros" and like what that would mean for them and how maybe faster they could have come to understand their gay son.

- Yeah, definitely. And it's great that like there are so many more films and TV shows and things. But to have it on the big screen is pretty amazing.

BILLY EICHNER: It's cool, yeah.

- Luke, you're a bit of a rom-com expert.

LUKE MACFARLANE: I guess so.

- Yeah. How was this different in terms of-- with all the Hallmark films and stuff like that, how different did this feel for you?

LUKE MACFARLANE: I mean, different and the same. I mean, it's really about two people falling in love. So many of the Hallmark movies that I've done and really enjoyed making is about people getting to slowly know each other and sort of fall in love. And that's very much Aaron and Bobby's story as well. So I mean, "Bros" has definitely got some harder laughs and maybe a little bit more R-rated sex scenes. But at the core of it, it's really just about watching people fall in love.

- Did you watch any of them and you were like this is our leading man?

BILLY EICHNER: I have seen Luke's Hallmark movies, but I-- it didn't really factor into casting.

LUKE MACFARLANE: He's a big fan of Lacey Chabert, so anything she does.

BILLY EICHNER: Yes, anything. Yeah, I don't miss the Lacey Chabert vehicle.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Project.

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah.

- And did any of that go into consideration when you're writing the Hallheart?

BILLY EICHNER: No, that's what's really strange is that all of that was written before Luke got cast in the movie. I actually have watched Hallmark movies and a lot of those cable Christmas movies, and I enjoy them. But you know, there's also like a lot of stuff to spoof in them. But I always say you can't spoof anything unless you're secretly watching it and enjoying it because how would you know how to spoof it? So you know, it's just another thing to have fun with in pop culture.

- Speaking of the sex scenes, was there any improv involved in that? I loved-- the foot thing got me. That killed me.

BILLY EICHNER: That was improvised, yeah.

LUKE MACFARLANE: That was, yeah. That's right.

BILLY EICHNER: We had a bunch of things listed that we were going to try. Some worked. Some didn't. And then once we got in there, we kind of just played around and felt it out. You know, you can feel what's feeling funny. And yeah, it was actually-- all things considered, it wasn't uncomfortable.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Yeah, no, no. It's actually really funny, you know? So the bedroom is like over here on the set and they have the camera set up and the video village, which is where the director and the producers and all the other people are watching. And we're just kind of playing around and they just kept the cameras rolling. And if something was working, you could kind of hear chuckles in the room next door.

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah.

LUKE MACFARLANE: So you're like, oh, keep doing that because you can hear the actual laughter through the wall.

BILLY EICHNER: They also kept telling us it was a closed set, you know, that they weren't going to let anyone on the set because we were filming sex scenes. And there have never been more people on the set.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Totally.

BILLY EICHNER: I mean, there were like-- my cousins were there. There were just like a ton of people.

LUKE MACFARLANE: The rabbi showed up.

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah, yes. He blessed us, yes. He blessed the foot sucking scene.

- Well, that's the only way you can let it get through.

BILLY EICHNER: Exactly, yeah. It's very spiritual.

LUKE MACFARLANE: I also think it's funny when it's a closed set. It's like ultimately this movie is going to go out to millions of people.

BILLY EICHNER: That's true, right? Why close the set?

LUKE MACFARLANE: Why close it?

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah.

- That's true.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Yeah, open up the relationship and the set.

BILLY EICHNER: And the set.

- Which I guess is what happened with like the foursome scenes. And there were lots of funny dating scenes and things. Did you grab inspiration from yourself or friends like dating stories?

BILLY EICHNER: Sure. I mean, I have a ton of them. My friends have tons of them, you know? I have a lot of single gay friends. And we pulled inspiration from everywhere. I mean, there are too many. Too many things to pull from in real life. So we chose the best ones or the ones that felt the most honest and the funniest.

- Was there anything left on the cutting room floor that you're like, oh, I wish that got in?

BILLY EICHNER: A lot.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Always, yeah.

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah.

LUKE MACFARLANE: That's part of the fun of movie-making, you know?

- There were so many amazing cameos. And you know, you're referencing "Glee" and there's a "Glee" star, "Queer Eye" and there's an OG "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" star. Was there anyone that you couldn't get? Because there were so many.

BILLY EICHNER: I'm sure, yeah. But we got a lot, you know? It's pretty cool. I don't want to give it away. But at the end of the movie we have a bunch of big celebrity cameos that pop up. They're the only straight people that are in the movie. But they were great. It was such an honor to have them.

LUKE MACFARLANE: We did actually-- there was a moment when Liam Hemsworth--

BILLY EICHNER: Oh, that's right. Liam Hemsworth wanted to do a cameo in the movie, and he was supposed to. And we had a whole Zoom meeting with him and he was lovely and charming and funny. But then COVID hit again and he couldn't travel from Australia just to do one scene in "Bros" unfortunately. But that would have been fun.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Australia, you kept Liam from being in "Bros."

BILLY EICHNER: I know.

- Oh, that's so rude.

BILLY EICHNER: Maybe "Bros 2." Yes.

- What was his-- was he going to be himself?

BILLY EICHNER: In the movie, Luke and I go see a movie called "The Treasure Inside," which is about-- it's a fictional movie about, you know, two closeted frontiersman during the California Gold Rush of 1812 sort of indicative of the many movies about tragedy-- tragic closeted men that we get in Hollywood--

LUKE MACFARLANE: "Brokeback Mountain."

BILLY EICHNER: --where straight actors play them. "Brokeback" and a million other ones. And we were going to shoot scenes from that movie, and Liam was going to be one of the tragic closeted frontiersman. We never ended up shooting those scenes. But at one point, we were going to with Liam and Nick Jonas.

- Oh, amazing. Oh, that's so sad. But I mean, it was great to see like Debra Messing.

BILLY EICHNER: Yeah, she said it was the only time she's been able to curse on camera. So she had a blast doing it. And she's so funny in the movie.

LUKE MACFARLANE: So good.

- Amazing. You shared a tweet on your Instagram and probably on Twitter as well of a-- someone who saw the movie. And there was an elderly man there who watched it, was like in tears. How does that feel for you guys, knowing that that kind of reaction is happening?

BILLY EICHNER: It's really powerful, you know? It's humbling and it's very profound really. I mean, it's-- you don't often get to make things that inspire that type of reaction, especially a comedy. But that-- you know, it speaks to how rare of a movie this is. We just don't have many movies like this that play on the big screen. And it's very powerful. I mean, it's really moving to hear those stories.

LUKE MACFARLANE: Yeah, without sounding too highfalutin, it's kind of exactly what you hope-

BILLY EICHNER: Right.

LUKE MACFARLANE: --happens when you make a movie, that it does touch somebody.