Luke Macfarlane has revealed that he turned down a role in Barbie.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor shared that he auditioned for a small role in the upcoming Greta Gerwig-directed comedy – “and got it” – but had to bow out due to obligations with his Apple TV series Platonic.
Platonic is directed by Nick Stoller, who previously collaborated with Macfarlane on Bros – which memorably made history as one of the first major gay rom-coms by a major studio and the first to feature an openly LGBTQ+ principal cast.
“I got an email from Nick that was like, “I think you’d be really great in this part.” I was like, “Great. I have this offer for Barbie, so you gotta let me know,”” said Macfarlane.
“We tried to make it work, and I was like, “You know what? I really, really wanted to work on this show.” Careers are funny things — you never really know. When I read about the character on the page, I was like, “This is somebody I understand.””
Macfarlane continued to describe his decision as “brutal”: “Yeah, the timing couldn’t work out for both. I’m not trying to sound boastful. It was a small, little part, but I’ve never been part of some beautiful, big, cool thing like that. It would have been cool to be able to do both.”
Platonic stars Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen as two former best friends who reconnect after “a long rift”. Macfarlane plays Byrne’s husband Charlie with Tre Hale, Andrew Lopez, Carla Gallo, Alisha Wainright, Vinny Thomas, Guy Branum, Janet Varney and Emily Kimball rounding out the cast.
On 21 June, Macfarlane announced that he and his longtime partner Hig Roberts welcomed their first child, a girl called Tess Eleanor Macfarlane.
“We started life with some hectic days and received world class care,” he wrote on Instagram. “On Father’s Day we got to take her home. Her Dads can’t wait to introduce her to all the remarkable people and the beautiful world we live in.”
The post also included an array of videos and photos of the new family of three, including one clip of Macfarlane and Roberts exiting the hospital with Tess.
Billy Eichner, his Bros co-star who also wrote the critically-acclaimed comedy, celebrated the news with a series of red heart emojis.