When Luke Fetherston joined the cast of the romantic comedy “Picture This,” he immediately saw his role as an opportunity to help “validate younger LGBTQ+ people’s experiences.” But he found himself relishing one of the perks of the job, too: the ability to bike to the film’s London set from his home.
“My character’s a gay man in his 30s living in [the London borough of] Hackney, and I’m all of those things. I didn’t have to dig that deep,” the actor quipped. “It’s completely bizarre when you book a job and then you suddenly realize that you’re 10 minutes down the road.”
“Picture This,” directed by Prarthana Mohan and due out Thursday on Amazon Prime Video, is an adaptation of the 2024 Australian comedy, “Five Blind Dates.” The movie stars “Bridgerton” actor Simone Ashley as Pia, a lovesick Londoner who is struggling to get her photography business off the ground despite some creative efforts spearheaded by Jay (Fetherston), her best friend and colleague.
At her younger sister’s engagement party, Pia is told by a spiritual guru that the love of her life will be found among her next five dates. But Pia’s plans to get back into the dating scene are thwarted by the unexpected reappearance of her ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Hero Fiennes Tiffin).
Fetherston, whose credits include The CW’s “Pandora” and the Apple TV+ series “Still Up,” has spoken in previous interviews about being told to hide his sexuality in the early years of his career. He also understood that the character of Jay would be classified as yet another example of the “gay best friend” trope, much like Rupert Everett’s George in “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and Willie Garson’s Stanford on “Sex and the City.”
Ashley, who is of British-Indian heritage, has praised the ways in which “Picture This” puts a multicultural twist on such rom-com traditions. As for Jay, Fetherston says the character felt more “dimensional” than many of his cinematic or television predecessors.
“Jay is a constant for Pia and has this emotional arc that he goes on with her,” he explained. “He really listens to Pia, whereas some of her family don’t. He sees her and he appreciates what she’s going through and is able to try and lift her out of the fog and send her on her way.”
“It’s always nice for our community to see gay men playing gay roles,” he added. “It’s more visibility for us, which is only a good thing.”
Born in Scotland and raised in East London, Fetherston got his start in musical theater, performing in productions of “Funny Girl” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” among other shows.
In recent years, Fetherston has been mostly focused on TV, including a memorable role on Lifetime’s “Flowers in the Attic: The Origin.” Not only does “Picture This” look poised to boost his Hollywood profile, but it also gave him a chance to reunite with Ashley, with whom he participated in an acting workshop more than a decade ago.
“When I read the script for my audition, I had an idea that it would be Simone,” he said. “We hadn’t seen each other for a long time, but we already had that familiarity. So the relationship between Jay and Pia just flourished on-screen, because we had that comfortability with each other.”
Viewers hoping to see more of Fetherston after “Picture This” are in luck, as the actor also has a principal role on the third season of the Amazon Prime Video series “The Wheel of Time,” due out March 13.
For now, Fetherston is enjoying being ensconced in the romantic comedy space, naming “Clueless” and “Notting Hill” as among his personal favorites. Still, he’s hoping to expand the breadth of queer roles, whether in rom-coms or other genres, he tackles moving forward.
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“I would like to play as many queer roles as possible because it’s my lived experience ― it would be amazing to have that opportunity,” he said. “It’s amazing working with other actors who have different lenses on life, and I think absorbing all that in whatever way you can is beneficial.”
Watch the trailer for “Picture This” below.