Thomas Luke Macfarlane (born January 19, 1980) is a Canadian actor and former singer. He is known for playing Scotty Wandell on the ABC television drama Brothers & Sisters (2006–2011), RAC Agent D'avin Jaqobis on the Space television science fiction series Killjoys (2015–2019), the romantic lead in a number of Hallmark Channel movies, and Aaron in Bros.

Luke Macfarlane
Macfarlane in 2006
Born
Thomas Luke Macfarlane

(1980-01-19) January 19, 1980 (age 44)
London, Ontario, Canada
Citizenship
  • Canada
  • United States (since 2018)
EducationJuilliard School (BFA)
Occupation
  • Actor
Years active2003–present
PartnerHig Roberts (2020–present)
Children1

Early life and education

edit

Thomas Luke Macfarlane was born on January 19, 1980,[1] in London, Ontario. His father Thomas was the director of student health services at the University of Western Ontario, and his mother Penny is a mental health nurse at a London hospital. Macfarlane attended London Central Secondary School with twin sister, Ruth, and older sister Rebecca. Macfarlane went to school at the Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts,[2] then later studied drama at Juilliard in New York City.[3]

Career

edit

Macfarlane had an early role playing opposite Cynthia Nixon in Robert Altman's miniseries Tanner on Tanner[4] on the Sundance Channel. He subsequently had leading roles on the 2005 FX series Over There (playing PV2 Frank "Dim" Dumphy) and in the 2009 two-part miniseries titled Iron Road.[5]

His first notable role was as Scotty Wandell on ABC's Brothers & Sisters, husband to Kevin Walker (played by Matthew Rhys), one of the "brothers" of the show.[6] Macfarlane's other notable television roles include Jason Howell in the Canadian sitcom Satisfaction,[7] Rick Lincoln on NBC's The Night Shift,[8][9] Chaplain Hopkins on PBS's Mercy Street[10] and the starring role of D'avin Jaqobis in Syfy's Killjoys.[11][12]

Macfarlane has also starred in TV movies, such as Hallmark Channel's The Memory Book,[13] Christmas Land, Maggie's Miracle Christmas, The Birthday Wish, and The Mistletoe Promise (2016).[10]

He co-starred in a major film release, Bros, with Billy Eichner in 2022, which was noted for the principal cast being all LGBTQ+, even for heterosexual and cis-gender characters.[14][15]

Stage

edit

Macfarlane was one of the four leads in Juvenilia at the Playwrights Horizons Theater from November 14–December 21, 2003.[16] He played the lead role in the American premiere of the play Where Do We Live, staged at the Vineyard Theatre in May 2004.[17] The production was cited by the 2005 GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding New York Theatre: Broadway and Off-Broadway. He also appeared with Jill Clayburgh and Hamish Linklater in the off-Broadway production of The Busy World is Hushed, again at Playwrights Horizons, in Summer 2006.[18] He reprised his role of Thomas for the L.A. Premiere at the Skirball Cultural Center from February 7–11 of 2007.

Macfarlane was part of the one-night celebrity performed staging of Howard Ashman's unproduced musical Dreamstuff. The musical was re-imagined by Howard's partners Marsha Malamet and Dennis Green and performed one night only at Los Angeles' Hayworth Theatre as part of the Bruno Kirby celebrity reading series, directed by actor Michael Urie. Luke starred in the show alongside Eden Espinosa, Vicki Lewis, Fred Willard and David Blue.

Macfarlane starred in the world premiere of stage drama Reverberation in February 2015 at Hartford Stage in Connecticut.[19]

Music career

edit

Macfarlane was the lead singer and a songwriter for the band Fellow Nameless,[20] which began in his 8th grade along with some of his classmates at Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts under the name of Slipnaught, a name they randomly chose from a dictionary because they did not have a name for the band when it came time to perform on stage. Fellow Nameless came from Slipnaught mainly because the band members hated the original name, and so, Fellow Nameless was born at London Central Secondary School. Fellow Nameless has produced one underground album, which was a half-studio, half-live CD album, and they recorded an additional ten songs that never got put out including three songs that were recorded for a development deal with Maverick Records. They played a showcase for Danny Strick A&R of Maverick Records and in the end got passed over. The once thought of as defunct London, Ontario based band, Fellow Nameless, later had two incarnations without Macfarlane as lead singer. The first incarnation came in the second quarter of 2004 with the creation of Van A Primer and a new singer, Matthew Pearn. Their most recent incarnation, as of March, 2006, has three of the remaining band members under the new band name of Cancel Winter.

Personal life

edit

Macfarlane came out as gay during an interview with The Globe and Mail on April 15, 2008.[2][21] On June 12, 2018, Macfarlane was naturalized as an American citizen.[22]

Macfarlane plays the cello,[23] and this skill was used in the Hallmark movie Chateau Christmas. He also plays the trumpet.[24]

On June 4, 2023, Macfarlane and his partner, alpine skier Hig Roberts, announced the birth of their first child.[25]

Filmography

edit
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Kinsey Bruce Kinsey
2006 Recalled Lieutenant Sefton Short film
Trapped Ashes Vincent Segment: "My Twin, The Worm"
2013 Erection Dean Short film
2017 Rock, Paper, Scissors Peter Harris
2021 Single All the Way James
2022 Bros Aaron Shepard
TBA Lone Star Bull Bull Jackson Post-production
Television
Year Title Role Notes
2004 Tanner on Tanner Stuart DeBarge TV miniseries
2005 Over There PV2 Frank "Dim" Dumphy Main role; 13 episodes
2006–2011 Brothers & Sisters Scott "Scotty" Wandell Recurring role (seasons 1–2); main role (seasons 3–5); 81 episodes
2009 Iron Road James Nichol TV miniseries
2012 Beauty & the Beast Phillippe Bertrand Episode: "Proceed with Caution"
2013 Person of Interest Agent Alan Fahey Episode: "Proteus"
Smash Patrick Dillon Episodes: "The Tonys", "The Nominations"
Satisfaction Jason Howell Main role; 13 episodes
2014–2017 The Night Shift Rick Lincoln Recurring role; 8 episodes
2014 The Memory Book Gabe Sinclair Television movie (Hallmark)
2015 Supergirl Agent Donovan Episodes: "Red Faced", "Human for a Day"
2015–2019 Killjoys RAC Agent D'avin Jaqobis Main role, 5 seasons
2015 Christmas Land Tucker Barnes Television movie (Hallmark)
2016–2017 Mercy Street Chaplain Hopkins Main role
2016 The Mistletoe Promise Nicholas Derr Television movie (Hallmark)
2017 The Birthday Wish David McKinely Television movie (Hallmark)
Karen Kingsbury's Maggie's Christmas Miracle Casey Cummins Television movie (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)
2018 A Shoe Addict's Christmas Jake Marsden Television movie (Hallmark)
2019 Just Add Romance Jason Tucker Television movie (Hallmark)
Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen Edward Ferris Television movie (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries)
2020 A Valentine's Match Zach Williams Television movie (Hallmark)
Chateau Christmas Jackson Lewis Television movie (Hallmark)
2021 Taking a Shot at Love Ryan Cooper Television movie (Hallmark)
Christmas in My Heart Sean Grant Television movie (Hallmark)
2022 Moriah's Lighthouse Ben McCain Television movie (Hallmark)
A Magical Christmas Village Ryan Scott Television movie (Hallmark)
2023-present Platonic Charlie Main role
2023 Notes of Autumn Leo Television film (Hallmark)
Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story Eli Television film (Lifetime)
Catch Me If You Claus Chris Television film (Hallmark)
2024 Invincible Rick Sheridan (voice) Season 2 [26]
Hacks Brad Episode: "Better Late"
Music videos
Year Artist Title Role
2003 Seal Love's Divine Guy chasing after girlfriend in taxi
2009 Despina Caldis My Life Would Suck Without You Boyfriend

Theatre

edit
Year Title Role
2003 Juvenilia Brondie Chase
2004 Where Do We Live? Stephen
In The Wings (Stage Reading) Nicky Sanchez
2006 The Busy World Is Hushed Thomas
2007 The Busy World Is Hushed Thomas
2008 Dreamstuff (Stage Reading)
2009 The Jazz Age F. Scott Fitzgerald
2010 Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir Sam Bendrix
Some Men
2011 The Normal Heart Craig Donner/Grady
Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir Sam Bendrix
2012 The Normal Heart Felix Turner
8 (Stage Reading) Jeff Zarrillo
Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir Sam Bendrix
2015 Reverberation Jonathan
2016 Running on Fire
2017 Big Night Austin

References

edit
  1. ^ "Dolly Parton turns 72 today: Celebrity birthdays for Jan. 19". Vancouver Island Free Daily. Associated Press. 19 January 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b Chelin, Pamela (15 April 2008). "A commitment to himself". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Archived from the original on 6 August 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
  3. ^ Rosenblum, Ira (October 2008). "Q&A With Luke Macfarlane". The Juilliard School. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  4. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (5 October 2004). "16 Years Later, It's a Sendup of a Sendup". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  5. ^ "Iron Road dramatizes chapter in Chinese Canadian history". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  6. ^ "Matthew Rhys on Brothers and Sisters". Telegraph.co.uk. 21 January 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  7. ^ Satisfaction - Luke Macfarlane CTV.ca
  8. ^ "Luke Macfarlane excited about his role as gay military man on NBC's The Night Shift". Gay Star News. 2 July 2014. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  9. ^ "Interview: Luke Macfarlane on "The Night Shift," Gay Military Couples, "Brothers & Sisters" & More". LOGO News. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  10. ^ a b "Luke Macfarlane Talks Christmas Land, Killjoys, Mercy Street, and More [Exclusive]". TV Goodness. 19 December 2015. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  11. ^ "'Brothers & Sisters' Alum Luke MacFarlane, Hannah John-Kamen and Aaron Ashmore Join Syfy's 'Killjoys'". TheWrap. 22 July 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  12. ^ Media, Comcast Interactive (19 June 2015). "Luke Macfarlane On Sexuality and the Sci-Fi Genre In 'Killjoys' - Xfinity TV Blog". Xfinity TV Blog. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  13. ^ "TV Movie Goodness Interview: Luke Macfarlane Talks Hallmark Movie Channel's The Memory Book". TV Goodness. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  14. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (23 September 2021). "Billy Eichner Sets Historic LGBTQ Cast (With a Twist) for Universal's Bros". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  15. ^ Chapman, Wilson (8 June 2022). "Billy Eichner on All-Queer Bros Cast: 'We're Trying to Correct an Imbalance'". Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Juvenilia, Tale of College Kids and Games of Seduction, Opens Off-Bway Dec. 7 | Playbill". Playbill. 7 December 2003. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  17. ^ "Where Do We Live | Written & Directed by Christopher Shinn". Vineyard Theatre. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  18. ^ Isherwood, Charles (26 June 2006). "Questions of Family and Faith in 'The Busy World Is Hushed'". The New York Times.
  19. ^ Kennedy, John R. "Canada's Luke Macfarlane to star in premiere of 'Reverberation'". Global News. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  20. ^ Branco, Nelson (30 June 2017). "Killjoy's Luke Macfarlane admits his rock star days are over". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  21. ^ "London actor Luke MacFarlane rises to Hollywood lead with Bros". CBC News. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
  22. ^ Macfarlane, Luke [@ten_minutes_younger] (12 June 2020). "Two years ago today I became an American citizen. WIth my Macfarlane family tartan tie I took an oath of allegiance with people born in many different countries. #vote". Retrieved 29 December 2021 – via Instagram.
  23. ^ "Did MacFarlane & Patterson Really Play Their Instruments in "Chateau Christmas?" Find Out!". hallmarkchristmasmoviesblog.com. 29 October 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2021.
  24. ^ "Gay Influence: Actor Luke Macfarlane". 28 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Luke Macfarlane is Officially a Father, Shares Pics of Newborn Daughter". 21 June 2023.
  26. ^ "Invincible Season 2: Release Date, Trailer, Cast & More". Retrieved 11 September 2023.
edit