BROS WANTS TO MAKE US LAUGH, MAKE US CRY, AND BREAK A WHOLE LOT OF NEW GROUND IN THE PROCESS. AS ITS STAR BILLY EICHNER AND THE TEAM TELL US, THE GAY ROMCOM HAS BEEN A LONG TIME COMING

WORDS OLLY RICHARDS

Bobby (Billy Eichner, second left) takes the floor before Angela (Ts Madison), Wanda (Miss Lawrence), Tamara (Eve Lindley), Robert (Jim Rash) and Cherry (Dot-Marie Jones).

LIKE MANY KIDS,

little Billy Eichner was obsessed with movies. Growing up in New York in the 1980s, his parents would take him to the cinema often, sometimes at night, so he’d feel like a grown-up. It started with Bambi, but as Billy got a little older it was romantic comedies that awakened something in him. “I would see Sleepless In Seattle with my parents. Or When Harry Met Sally. Or Parenthood,” says Eichner. “Seeing all these funny guys — Tom Hanks, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal — starring in these big Hollywood comedies, I thought, ‘Oh, I could do that.’” It wasn’t until he got much older that Eichner was told, “No, sorry, you will not be doing that.” Because that’s not what gay actors do.

Eichner has had, by any measure, a successful career. First, there was his bizarre comedy gameshow Billy On The Street, which saw him running around Manhattan, often with movie stars, shouting at startled members of the public. He’s had roles in sitcoms, including Parks And Recreation, and Ryan Murphy shows. A lot of comedians with his profile would be courted by movie studios. That didn’t happen for Eichner. The biggest role of his movie career thus far is voicing Timon in Jon Favreau’s The Lion King remake. The best Hollywood saw for him was a meerkat bickering with a farting pig. This might be surprising to many when so much of the cultural world now readily embraces all shades of sexuality and gender identity. But this is Hollywood, ever reluctant to put money behind new-fangled things like gays and women. Hollywood just prefers things as they’ve always been, no offence.

“As I started to make the rounds in Hollywood, the message I was getting was that the biggest thing I could aspire to be was maybe the wacky neighbour on a bad sitcom,” says Eichner. “I only encountered homophobia for the first time in my life as an adult in Hollywood. All those dreams I had as a kid, when I didn’t know any better, they now felt impossible.”

This year, though, Eichner’s finally getting that romcom lead role, at 43. And it’s not an indie or streaming release. He’s headlining Bros, a big, hilarious, mainstream romantic comedy. It’s the first time a studio, in this case Universal, has made a theatrically released romcom that stars openly gay people. It’s one of those movies Eichner loved as a kid, but starring people like him.