Hallmark Star Luke Macfarlane Says Network Is 'Excited' for His Leap to Big-Screen Rom-Coms with Bros

Eric Andersson
·2 min read
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Hallmark Star Luke Macfarlane Says Network Is 'Excited' for His Leap to Big-Screen Rom-Coms with Bros
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Luke Macfarlane is no stranger to making romantic comedies.

For nearly a decade, the 42-year-old heartthrob has been a go-to leading man for Hallmark, starring in a dozen of the network's popular made-for-TV movies like Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen, A Shoe Addict's Christmas and A Valentine's Match.

Now with Bros, a same-sex rom-com co-written by and starring comedian Billy Eichner, 43, the openly gay Macfarlane makes the leap to the big screen, starring as Eichner's love interest. The R-rated comedy pokes fun at the genre, even spoofing Hallmark with a fictional network called "Hallheart."

During his visit to the PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly photo and video studio at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival Friday, Macfarlane addressed the real network's reaction to his role in Bros.

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(from left) Bobby (Billy Eichner) and Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) in Bros, directed by Nicholas Stoller.
(from left) Bobby (Billy Eichner) and Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) in Bros, directed by Nicholas Stoller.

Universal Pictures

"I've been doing romantic comedies for a long time with Hallmark and they have given me an incredible opportunity to sort of learn how to sort of be in that genre … they're really excited for me," he tells EW senior writer Dave Karger during a chat with Eichner and the movie's director Nick Stoller.

RELATED: Billy Eichner to Star in Bros, the First Gay Rom-Com from a Major Studio: "Only Took 100 Years"

Macfarlane continues, "I think Hallmark is also a place where, you know, they give lots of opportunities to people. They gave me, an openly gay actor, an opportunity to star as always a straight dude so that was really cool of them."

Indeed, in the Hallmark movies he's made, the actor has played the love interest of several women including When Calls the Heart's Erin Krakow and One Tree Hill alum Bethany Joy Lenz.

Bros isn't Macfarlane's first gay-themed rom-com, either. In 2021, he starred in Netflix's Single All the Way opposite Michael Urie.

Bros hits theaters nationwide Sept. 30.