Producer of gay rom-com Bros didn’t trust straight director to make gay sex scenes ‘hot’

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The co-producer of new gay rom-com Bros, Guy Branum, has joked that he supervised the film’s straight director to make sure the sex scenes were “hot” enough.

Directed by Forgetting Sarah Marshall’s Nicholas Stoller, Bros follows the love life of Bobby (Billy Eichner), a gay podcaster who meets and quickly falls for gym-rat Aaron (Luke Macfarlane).

Alongside Eichner, the entirely-LGBTQ+ cast includes Bowen Yang, Harvey Fierstein, gender-nonconforming star Miss Lawrence and RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Symone – to name a few.

In an interview with Page Six, co-producer and actor Branum spilled details about Stoller, queer club scenes, and the heavy use of Grindr on set.

“I was there every day for some of the sex scenes,” Branum said. “Our director is straight and I was like, ‘Someone needs to tell you [if it’s] hot or not.

“I think a straight woman could do it. I think there’s some straight men who could do it… but I need to double check Nicholas Stoller’s work.”

Grindr on set ‘exploded’

Branum explained that due to the all-queer cast, his phone “exploded” with Grindr notifications while filming.

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“I didn’t hook up with anybody. It was in a workplace. I couldn’t do that. But I’m not saying that I didn’t. And I am not saying that I did,” he said.

“I was being very professional but I did once open Grindr on my phone and my phone essentially exploded… There was a lot of Grindr out there.”

He added the cast was not the only thing authentically queer about the film’s production, with nightclub scenes full of “500 writhing men”.

“I do love that they made a gay club seem and feel like a real gay club,” Branum said.

Universal Pictures confirmed on Monday (26 September) that Bros will not be shown in the Middle East.

The first R-rated gay rom-com made by the studio has been pulled from the region “due to cultural and commercial reasons”, a source told IndieWire.

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It is not expected to screen in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Kuwait, with the nations previously banning several films with queer-themes this year, including Doctor Strange 2.

Most Middle Eastern nations outlaw same-sex relationships, with the maximum penalty in Saudi Arabia being the death penalty. 

Eichner, however, has said Bros was made with the LGBTQ+ community as its highest priority, giving PinkNews and other LGBTQ+ outlets a first look at the Bros trailer in May in a bid to boost its queer visibility.

He said: “As you know, Bros is historic in several ways.

“It’s the first gay-rom ever released by a major studio, it’s the first major studio film with an all LGBTQ+ cast in all the roles – even the straight roles – and apparently I’m the first openly gay man to ever write and star in his own major studio film, which is bizarre and infuriating but somehow true.”

Bros will be released in US cinemas on Friday (30 September) and in the UK on 28 October.