Production Designer Lisa Myers Talks ‘Bros’ Movie 2022: Reactions, Challenges, and Queer Easter Eggs
Showbiz Cheat Sheet connected with Bros movie production designer Lisa Myers, who helped create the backdrop for the 2022 romantic comedy. Learn more about Myers’ experience working on the film starring Billy Eichner and Luke Macfarlane, including the challenges Bros presented her with and the personal touches she brought to the film as a queer woman.
Billy Eichner movie didn’t get enough love in ‘certain parts of the country’
During opening weekend, Bros earned $4.8 million, about half of the earnings the studio projected (via Variety). In a since-deleted tweet, leading man Eichner blamed the lack of earnings on not enough straight people showing up.
“Even with glowing reviews, great Rotten Tomatoes scores, an A CinemaScore, etc., straight people, especially in certain parts of the country, just didn’t show up for Bros,” Eichner said. “And that’s disappointing but it is what it is.”
Lisa Myers focused on the positive reactions she heard about the film
When Showbiz asked Myers about the blowback Bros received from some parts of the country, including those theaters that pulled the trailer, she admittedly hadn’t heard about it. “It doesn’t totally surprise me,” she said, adding:
“I try not to get too caught up in all of the immediate responses because of course, this is going to stimulate some reactions of all different types of people.”
Lisa Myers, Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Instead of focusing on that, Myers put more value in the reactions of people she knows and cares about. “I had situations with people that were my parents’ age that were excited to go see the film,” she said. “I try to give a little disclaimer like, ‘It’s kind of raunchy!'”
Like any romantic comedy, Bros features multiple sex scenes. And a four-some.
Myers said many of the reactions she got from friends and family were the same. “They would text me after being like, ‘Oh, don’t think I’m so square; I loved it. I know a lot about gay men dating now.'”
‘Bros’ movie was a ‘mental exercise’ for production designer Lisa Myers
As a production designer, Myers was responsible for all of the sets seen in Bros, from the LGBTQ+ museum to the Hallheart Village, a fictional and over-the-top version of a Hallmark Channel Christmas pop-up. Typically when working on a project, one or two sets stand out as Myers’ “babies.” But with Bros, all of the sets felt like that.
“We had so many cool sets to design and … we had time, we had the backing to do it and all of that, but it’s like you still feel crunched because … I’ll give everything my attention,” she said. “[On Bros] I was like, ‘That’s my baby, that’s my baby. They’re all my babies!'”
Feeling spread out and caring about the different elements of each set felt challenging at times, but never in a way that was overwhelming for Myers. “That was like a mental exercise, but an enjoyable one,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s a good problem to have.”
Queer Easter Eggs Lisa Myers included in ‘Bros’
Like many of the cast and crew involved with Bros, Myers is as a member of the LGBTQ community. When we asked about any personal touches she included in the film — something production designers often do! — Myers had this to say:
“Billy and members of my team … made a crazy, crazy [six-page] book list and literally bought all of them. Those are all the books in his apartment and in his podcasting studio.
That’s not like — I mean, I’m queer, so I guess it is like a personal detail — but we wanted to make sure that this person who is very in tune with queer culture and pop culture and a historian in his own way as well, we wanted to make sure that those books were accurate and represented the kind of books that character would be reading.”
Lisa Myers, Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Myers said if you look closely, you may be able to spot a book by Anaïs Nin or other queer authors in the film. See Bros in theaters or watch it on-demand.
