IN Toronto Magazine

Brother in arms
by Gordon Bowness

TV’s sexy taboo-buster, Luke Macfarlane


Luke Macfarlane is the sexiest gay on TV — an out actor playing a well-rounded gay character on network television. The 30-year-old Canadian plays Scotty Wandel on the ABC serial drama Brothers and Sisters (now in its fifth season on Global), a character who has smashed taboos south of the border.

The commitment ceremony between him and his partner Kevin Walker (played by Matthew Rhys) was the first-ever gay marriage by continuing characters on a US network (broadcast the same year as California’s notorious Prop 8 banning same-sex marriage). Last season, Kevin and Scotty began planning for a child through surrogacy. And the two men’s relationship is portrayed as physically passionate; no missing nor chaste kisses on this show.

Macfarlane is humble in the face of such controversial fare.

“I think the writers are doing something controversial. I’m just saying the words on the page,” he says. “I do feel a part of it, though; it’s wonderful.

“I’m quite proud of the fact that we told the story of how two people meet, how they fall in love, how they break up, how they fall in love again and how, ultimately, they build a life together, including kids, and integrate it into a wild family.”

Last season ended with a bang, a bloody car crash that will impact greatly the sprawling Walker family headed by matriarch Nora (Sally Field). Leads Rob Lowe and Emily VanCamp are gone and this season picks up one year later. “It’s been a year of tragedy for the family,” says Macfarlane. “A lot has happened since the car accident. In a strange sort of way it sets a tone that’s different for the show, it’s a little bit darker.”

MacFarlane is looking forward to taking his character into new territory. Given the Walker family’s penchant for drama, in many ways, Scotty and Kevin’s relationship is the most normal on the series. “Scotty is kind of the perfect guy, and Kevin and Scotty have almost the perfect relationship. But we’re actually in the middle of taping an episode that calls all that into question, which I’m pretty thrilled about. I’ve always thought that Scotty lets Kevin get away with way too much shit.”

Macfarlane was born and raised in London, Ontario. After high school, the LB Pearson School of the Arts, he bypassed Toronto and headed straight to New York to attend Juilliard to study drama. He graduated in 2003. LA soon beckoned. “So I’ve never did the whole Canadian thing.”

He did nab a leading role in the 2008 CBC miniseries Iron Road. “I had a great experience. I had always wanted to go to China. And we had an excellent cast, who I’ll never get to work with again: Peter O’Toole, Tony Leung and Sam Neill.

“I remember from my childhood these epic CBC miniseries… so it felt like I am a part of it, now.”

Notwithstanding Canadian progress on gay rights, Macfarlane is continually struck by how different the US and Canada are. “They do really feel like two different places,” he says. “The stereotype is true — Canadians are nicer.”

Is he worried about American reaction to that observation? “Oddly, I think Americans sort of pride themselves on not being nice,” he says, laughing. “I don’t think they’re going, ‘Ah, gee. I wish we were nicer.’”

Kevin, are you listening?

Macfarlane came out to the media in 2008. “It’s odd being put in the situation where you feel you have to talk about it, that it’s the right thing to do to talk about it.

I certainly never regret it, but I guess I was a little bit naïve to think that once you come out, you are done. I think it’s something that’s been said before, but coming out is almost a lifelong process. It’s been very strange for me.

“Not that I don’t want to talk about my sexuality, I guess I’ve just run out of things to say.”

Despite his leading man good looks, Macfarlane may have narrowed his career options by coming out. He remains hopeful, however. “The only thing I can say is that I don’t know…. Society tends towards inclusion — in my lifetime it certainly has. So I’ll be part of that movement towards [gay actors] being leading men, because that’s the direction everyone wants to go.”

[source]

Love this article (interview).

Side Dish - 27th Sep

Side Dish - Scotty's Food Blog from ABC, Brothers & Sisters.

What a year it has been.

First, let me apologize to all of my readers for leaving you blog-less for the last few months. After the accident, my life (and Kevin’s… and…well, everyone’s!) has been turned upside down. But with Justin home from another tour of duty in Afghanistan, with Kitty finally making important decisions about her life and as I steal a quiet moment in the dining room of my new restaurant, I can honestly say…it feels good to be home.


With all the changes in my life will also come a change in my blog. Don’t worry, it’s not going anywhere. I’ll still share my favorite recipes as well as pictures and stories from my life.

But I’m in the process of redesigning the look and feel of the blog to more closely match that of the new restaurant I opened with Saul, CAFÉ 429.


Any new restaurant has its share of hiccups and growing pains and CAFÉ 429 has been no exception, but it truly is a labor of love. I designed it to be a comfortable place to visit, whether you are popping in for a cup of espresso and one of Saul’s homemade biscotti or to enjoy a meal with the people you care about most. It’s my hope that when you walk through the door and take a seat you can also say...

It feels good to be home.

TODAY online

The bro code

The boys of Brothers & Sisters on the joys of siblinghood
by May Seah 05:55 AM Sep 27, 2010

I HAVEN'T got any brothers, but after meeting some of the guys from Brothers & Sisters, who were a barrel of irreverent laughs, I almost wished I did.

I say "almost" because Dave Annable, Matthew Rhys and Luke Macfarlane reminded me that large families are almost inevitably full of conflicts and squabbles. In other words: "God gave us our family; thank God we can choose our friends."

In fact, in Annable's dressing room, where a video game system was prominently set up, the 30-year-old, who is getting married to actress Odette Yustman this autumn, joked that he was trying to get co-star Calista Flockhart and her husband, Harrison Ford to adopt him.

For TV's Walker family, the drama will never die down, especially not as Brothers & Sisters goes into its fifth season.

The new season fast-forwards to a year after the last season's climatic car-accident ending. Rob Lowe's character Robert McCallister is dead, which means wife Kitty (Calista Flockhart) is single again; Sarah (Rachel Griffiths) is in a steady relationship with Giles (Luc Laurent); Justin (Annable) comes back from Afghanistan a changed man; Kevin (Rhys) has a new career as a defense attorney and hubby Scotty (Macfarlane) is running his new restaurant together with Saul (Ron Rifkin); and, to top it all off, matriarch Nora (Sally Field) is acting strangely. And you thought your family life was complicated.



If you guys had your way, where would you like the show to go?

Dave Annable: Well, besides (Justin) living in a sorority house … (Laughs) Well, I think what they're doing with Justin is really great. I'm curious to see where we'll go next when he's alone and single.

Matthew Rhys: I think the Walkers should trace their roots back to Wales. There should be a trip. Walkerrrnen was their original Welsh name before they came to Ellis Island.



Matthew, you're Welsh - what are families like in Wales?

Matthew: They like drinking. They like singing. In that order. They're pretty much matriarch-led in Wales - like, the world over, really. As much as we (men) like to think we rule the roost, we don't.



I was just wondering if all families were as complicated as the Walkers.

Luke: (Laughs) Not all families have to turn out a television show every week.

Matthew: And keep it interesting. There is dysfunction, I think, in every family - it's just varying levels of it. We just seem to have it in abundance. And, you know, having the high number of siblings, you're sort of guaranteed that someone's having a problem anywhere at one point, at one time.



But dysfunction's fashionable now, anyway.

Matthew: It is. I think society's evolved in some certain way - people are less frightened to talk about the dysfunction. As people become more emotionally articulate, it sort of aired a lot more.



Have the characters become part of you? Have you found yourself taking on any of the quirks?

Matthew: I've started taking home a lot of the clothes!

Luke: I borrowed suits for my sister's wedding.



Fancy dress?

Matthew: "I went as a chef"!

Luke: I'm wearing, actually, Nora Walker's dress to my sister's wedding.



Is your mom like Nora?

Matthew: Oh, yeah. And that's the one thing you hear all the time from people who like the show: (Puts on a squeaky, high-pitched voice) "Oh, my mother's exactly like Nora. I know exactly how she feels. Why are you so rude to her? Why are you so rude to Sally Field???"



What's the great Sally Field like in person?

Dave: Uh, she's terrible! No, don't write that! She's the best! It's a lot of work to wrangle us actors to get ready for a scene and Sally's the one running the show - and she has been from day one.

Matthew: And it's no irony that this sort of family's led by the matriarch, and in our show, it's sort of the same. She's a consummate professional and really does lead by example.



So she bosses you around off the set as well?

Dave: Oh, totally. Actually, I have to go get her a coffee right now.



What's the most valuable lesson you've learned from her?

Dave: I think it's "be prepared". She always knows her lines when she comes into work and knows what she's doing. Clearly she goes home and works. It's easy to be young and get caught up in the fun nightlife and come to work going, "Woo, whatever, I got lines", you know. It sort of works a lot easier if you do your homework and go home and study your lines and all that fun stuff, and not play too many video games (looks sheepishly at his console).

Matthew: She comes in early, she's on time, she's prepared, she's thought about what she's going to do. She never holds anyone up. Sits by the camera while they light, doesn't go off and drink coffee and chit chat and get on the Internet. Old school.

Luke: No matter where you are in your career, you still have to work hard. Because she really has kind of done it all, but she doesn't rest on her laurels.

[source]

Brothers & Sisters S5E1

"The Homecoming"

Well, I love the scene where Scotty and Kevin argue about their miscarriage baby. Honestly speaking, I didn't want them to have kids, so I'm actually relieved. Please don't get me wrong, I think it's wonderful when they become parents though, I just want them to be happy two of them alone at first.

An article from TV addict

[source]

The Showrunner Chronicles: David Marshall Grant Previews the new Season of BROTHERS & SISTERS
By theTVaddict on September 17th, 2010

It has not been smooth sailing for the good ship BROTHERS & SISTERS. Yet despite changes both in front of and behind the camera that began even before the series launched four seasons ago, the show has managed to weather the storms. Of course, navigating rough waters falls upon the shoulders of showrunner — or, to continue our cheesetacular metaphor, ship’s captain — David Marshall Grant. Recently, Grant stepped away from the helm long enough to chat with us about cast members walking the plank, pesky rumors that the voyage will soon come to an end and dealing with industry’s equivalent of icebergs: budget cuts.

One would imagine that you’ve had quite an interesting summer! Just how prepared were you for the multitude of changed that were thrust upon you?
David Marshall Grant: Rob Lowe leaving was something Rob had been considering for a while last season, something we talked about, and was not a surprise for me in the least. In terms of Calista [Flockhart], she’s got the same deal as all the other actors this year and is excited and happy about having a great season without any diminished episodes. That said, there certainly were some unexpected changes. Emily VanCamp is only coming back for two or three episodes, which is a change for us and of course losing Rob is a big deal for us.

So yeah, I think it was in some ways a lot of loss for us, yet at the same time I think that all you can do is look at the positive side and really try to move forward. As fans are aware we’re going to jump ahead a year this season and we’re just sort of hoping to start the show this year certainly honoring Rob because that’s a big thing that happened in the season finale, but at the same time move us forward into new and exciting directions.

Not to linger too much on the past, but from a writer’s perspective, just how much did Emily VanCamp’s exit impact your plans for this season and was her exit the genesis of the one year jump forward?
I really felt it was important to jump a year as a way to get people in different places, so that was always going to be a given. But in terms of Justin and Rebecca’s relationship, we weren’t sure what was going to happen and when Emily talked to me about her dreams for her career and what was going on in terms of other offers, we made some adjustments. It was very important for us to honor the Justin/Rebecca relationship, as well as Rebecca’s relationship with her mother Holly, both of which have been so key to Rebecca. So we’ve tried to create a really powerful arc that will explain why she is leaving and honor the love affair that Rebecca and Justin had.

That’s really good to hear, because as a fan of the show and TV in general, it’s always disappointing when outside forces play such a public role in the direction of a given storyline.
Look, I could not agree with you more. Outside factors are things that couldn’t bug a showrunner more. Whether you’re breaking an episode and find out that the actor you were going to cast suddenly got a movie and you can’t do that episode anymore, TV is just so full of that kind of thing. But that is, in a way also the life of television. The more you can think on your feet and the more that you can just accept that this is going to be the status quo now and what can we do to really make this sing? We could get depressed about Justin and Rebecca, or we can use it as a great opportunity to write something that really creates a completion for two characters that have been through so much on the show and so integral to what BROTHERS & SISTERS is.

What will keep Holly in the fold now that Rebecca’s is out of the picture?
I don’t want to tease too much, but there are reasons that Holly needs the Walkers right now. I think that in dealing with her relationship with her daughter, David, and Justin when Rebecca leaves, these are all ways that Holly is going to be a part of the show. I think she’s going to have a very interesting story this year.

Moving on to other members of the family, what’s in store for Kitty?
When we pick up with Kitty, she’s in the process of a great transformation. It’s not a Kitty that we’ve seen so much of, she’s really trying to reinvent herself. We’re sending her on a journey of discovery that will see her begin a new romance with ARMY WIVES’ Jeremy Davidson.

Rumor has it that Kevin and Scotty’s surrogacy didn’t quite go as planned.
In a way it’s hard to answer that completely. Personally I’ve been through a lot of disappointment trying to make a family. As a gay man I know that these things don’t always work out — and it did finally by the way for me. But my point is that there are lots of was for Scotty and Kevin to create a family and I was always interested in landing somewhere else that involved foster adoption, so I think that’s what we’re going to try and do this year. It was always sort of in my head that their journey was going to be filled with a lot of disappointment. And it’s nothing to do with being gay, fertility issues are very difficult for people and I know a lot of couples that have been trying to get pregnant for years and years and years and it just doesn’t work. It’s something worth talking about and I think will be a very compelling story for them.

Will Nora ever find a love interest that doesn’t mysteriously disappear after three episodes?
I know right! We are definitely as excited for her as she is I think. I think this is a season where we’re really going to see Nora finally admit to what she wants in live along those lines. I think there will be some bumps in the roads for her and I’m really hoping that she can that special person.

At the start of every season one imagines you pitch a multitude of story-lines to the Network and Studio. Would fans be surprised by the sheer number of ideas that are shot down by the proverbial powers that be?
[Laughs] You want to know the truth? I think you’d be surprised by the number of ideas they don’t shoot down. I honestly mean that. I think that ABC has been extremely supportive both on the network and studio side. They have allowed us to tell story-lines with Kevin and Scotty that every time I’m just grateful in some ways maybe because I’m old, but shocked they’re letting us do it. They let us tell story-lines that involve politics that are sometimes controversial and they really have been incredibly supportive that way. But yes. It’s always a dialogue.

That said, the real dialogue is in the writer’s room where the writers just scream at each other trying to decide what the best stories are for the season. But once that’s resolved you go to the networks with your pitch, and luckily we’ve done a one through nine [episodes] sort of pitch and the network is very excited.

Excited enough to reward you with another season? After-all, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention all the speculation surrounding the fact that this may be BROTHERS & SISTERS final season.
No. ABC has said nothing to me and hinted nothing. I know there is a lot of talk around town about it. But in all honesty, all the input I’m getting from ABC is about keep going, next season we can do this, make sure we do this. I’m really going forward with the assumption and hope at least that we can keep going one more year, if not more.