May 23, 2024
In 'Mother of the Bride,' Wilson Cruz is Perfectly Fit to Star with Hollywood's Sexiest Middle-Aged Actors
Timothy Rawles READ TIME: 5 MIN.
Playing the gay best friend in a romantic comedy isn't groundbreaking. But when Wilson Cruz read the script for the new Netflix hit "Mother of the Bride," he knew it was going to be something special, especially the thought of working with the fashion icon and actress Brooke Shields.
"This whole movie happened because she got made a producer on it and it was her baby and it's a great vehicle for her," he says in a telephone interview with EDGE.
The new movie comes not long after Shields' last leading role, another Netflix rom-com called "A Castle for Christmas" from 2021.
It might be easy to forget that the former teen supermodel had a comedic edge but Cruz points out her successful '90s sitcom "Suddenly Susan," that also starred Kathy Griffin, and her comedic guest appearance in a "Friends" episode.
"I knew how funny she was," says Cruz. "What I did not know was how hard she worked to make sure that she got everything right; how professional she was."
"Mother of the Bride" is currently streaming on Netflix (and it's the second-most-watched movie on Netflix's top 10 as of this writing). It follows a woman named Lana (Shields) whose engaged daughter Emma (Miranda Cosgrove) announces she's having a destination wedding in Thailand paid for by a corporate sponsorship. Lana's best friend Janice (Rachael Harris) and their mutual gay friends Scott (Cruz) and Clay (Michael McDonald) tag along, the latter having just tied the knot themselves.
The meet-cute comes into play when it's revealed that Emma's fiancé RJ (Sean Teale) is actually the son of Will (Benjamin Bratt), someone Lana was involved with in her college days. The two must navigate around each other during the wedding preparations, each still carrying a flame for the other.
Cruz plays Will's brother and is just trying to make the best of the tropical location with his new husband. Since this was Cruz's first time in Asia, he didn't know how magical it was and found himself cradled by its soothing spirit.
"It's just a beautiful, beautiful place," he says. "I can't recommend it more. I got to explore a bit after we were done filming, and I visited the mangroves and James Bond Island and the Big Buddha at the top of the mountain."
With its cast of middle-aged men including '90s heartthrob Chad Michael Murray, the location allows them to go around with their shirts, or even clothes, off. In a comical bit, Shields accidentally walks in on Bratt's character in the buff. Superficially the 60-year-old actor's body looks just as fit as someone 40 years younger.
Cruz has a few shirtless moments of his own in the movie. He too looks defined and toned. And he didn't just get into shape for the part.
"It is a full-time job some days," he chuckles about keeping fit. "I have a regular yoga practice, paired with a core routine. I do it every morning. I lift at least four times a week. I enjoy it –- It's like the Zen time when things get crazy, which they have been lately."
Cruz has been busy. He recently became the new chair of the board of directors at the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and joined the cast for the final season of Paramount's acclaimed sci-fi series "Star Trek: Discovery."
The actor isn't new to discovering brave new worlds in entertainment, he may have single-handedly changed the trajectory of LGBTQ+ representation in television back in the less-woke landscape of the '90s.
He played Enrique, an openly gay teenager, in the Ed Zwick production of ABC's "My So-Called Life." That show put Cruz in the history books as the first gay character to be played by an out actor in a series. Still, that milestone didn't seem to matter in cinematic rom-com terms where straight actors portrayed "the gay best friend" trope, a one-dimensional underdeveloped character whose main purpose was to advise the lead. Although Scott in "Mother of the Bride" isn't as robust as Enrique, Cruz saw gold in the characterizations.
"There were a few things," he explains. "First of all, I love that this gay couple was a part of this big, beautiful ensemble cast, they were the most stable couple out of everyone in the movie. And that they've had this long relationship. I also love the fact that we see this really beautiful sibling relationship between Benjamin Bratt and myself. That really resonates with me because I'm also very close with my brothers. But to see this straight older brother and this gay brother be so close, and clearly, Scott is rooting for his older brother, he's very protective of him and wants him to find love."
That connection also extended to Cruz's co-star Michael McDonald who plays his husband. The former "Mad TV" cast member plays it straight, in comical terms, for the movie, but Cruz says it was hard to keep it together off-camera thanks to McDonald's buffoonery.
"Nobody makes me laugh harder than Michael, and you know when you're drinking and something comes out of your nose, laugh? That kind of laughter. He's hilarious. He actually improvised a lot of his funniest lines in this too. So, you know, he's very quick," he said.
With so much good chemistry driving the cast it would make sense to do a sequel or even a series of movies with these characters. Nothing is confirmed, but it's not outside the realm of possibilities.
"Somebody mentioned that --- I don't know how serious they were when they mentioned it when we were finishing up," Cruz says, adding he would absolutely consider doing a second chapter. "I mean, to hang out with these really beautiful people for another month-and-a-half in an exotic location. Let's go!"
Never lax on oiling his professional wheels, Cruz is already back on the set for a new movie starring Beau Bridges and Stephen Dorff called "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree," plus he's behind an intriguing documentary series called "Not Part of the Plan" which is being pitched to streamers at this very moment.
"It's a beautiful verité documentary that follows these four young people and their families and how the Mormon church affects them and their lives," he says.
With so much on his plate, it is a wonder how Cruz can fit any more on it. Maybe it's because he doesn't worry about the portions. Instead, he is grateful that he can revisit the buffet.