For many years, Luke Macfarlane was one of only a handful of gay actors who never shied away from playing queer roles. His coming out during a newspaper interview in 2008 coincided with him playing Matthew Rhys’ husband on the ABC family drama “Brothers & Sisters.”
But in his latest work, Apple TV+’s “Platonic,” Macfarlane plays a straight character, Rose Byrne’s husband.
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“Quite simply, like most actors, gay actors, straight actors, we just need someone to say, ‘I’m gonna give you a shot,’” Macfarlane told me at the “Platonic” premiere in Los Angeles. “The fact is somebody said, ‘That guy who just did this movie “Bros,” where he gets into a lot of very gay stuff, can play a straight guy,’ and that’s truly because somebody said somebody in power said, ‘I’m going to give you a shot.’ I’m so grateful to Nick for that opportunity.”
Nick is Nicholas Stoller, the director of “Bros” and co-creator of “Platonic.” Currently in its second season, “Platonic” follows the lives — the ups, the downs, and the very hysterical — of best friends Will (Seth Rogen) and Sylvia (Byrne).
I joked with Macfarlane about the possibility of not playing gay again. “I love playing gay,” he said. “I’ll play gay. I’ll play straight. I’ll do anything. I am very versatile.”
In fact, Macfarlane is not only a regular in Hallmark Channel movies with both gay and straight roles, but he’s developing an LGBTQ Christmas movie for the network. “Hallmark is definitely telling queer stories, so I’ve been trying to find a queer story that would make sense for them…It’s very long development,” he said.
Macfarlane says queer Hallmark movies offer a break from the very real-world political attacks on the LGBTQ community. “I think what’s interesting with Hallmark is their brand is so intact and part of their brand has never been to be overtly political, at least all the time that I’ve worked there,” he said. “For them, it’s just continuing to tell stories that really resonate with people that can still be an escape from the difficulties of our current situation.”
He added, “We all have a queer friend, we all have a queer neighbor, we all have a queer brother or sister….It’s actually just part of life.”
“Platonic” Season 2, episode 4 premieres on Apple TV+ on Aug. 20.
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