Out actor and star of Apple TV+'s Platonic Luke Macfarlane shared his thoughts on playing straight roles, wedding themes, fatherhood, and more in an interview with Out contributor Ty Cole.
Macfarlane, who welcomed a daughter in June, also plays a father on Platonic, opposite Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen. His character, Charlie, is a straight man and husband to Sylvia (Byrne).
Asked about the challenge of landing straight roles as a gay actor, Macfarlane said, "I think, like so many actors, I’m just looking for the next job. The best I can do for myself is make sure the people who I’m working with at the moment really like you because they become your advocates."
"It really begins with people in positions of power giving you the opportunity," he added. "All we can continue to do is when people find themselves in positions of power, they use it to create opportunities and say,'Yes, this openly gay actor can play a straight character.'"
The Bros star also described his experience "being an onset father" on Platonic.
"As an onset father, when you have a bunch of young adults on set with you, they are treated like every other actor, except they are very young," he said. "You become a bit responsible for check-in and making sure they know their lines, what are you gonna do, and where are you going to move."
"I love working with kids, but you should get an AD or acting coach credit because you’re definitely having to do a bit more."
Wedding themes were mentioned in the season finale of Platonic, and Macfarlane took a moment to share his (very outdoorsy) ideal.
"If I were to have a wedding," he said, "the theme would be 'Wilderness Destination.' I have this idea where everybody would get on a plane and we would fly to Alaska, have a beautiful wedding somewhere very remote, get back on the plane, and take you home."
Oh, and no cameras allowed, Macfarlane noted. "We have so few opportunities to be private nowadays. My generation was writing their secret thoughts in a journal and they would lock it with a key and hide it. Now our secret thoughts are very public all the time, so it’s important to keep some things private."
Platonic is available for streaming now on Apple TV+. You can watch the trailer below.
Platonic — Official Trailer | Apple TV+www.youtube.com
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