Luke Macfarlane
{{Short description|Canadian actor (born 1980)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=November 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Distinguish|Luke McPharlin}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Luke Macfarlane
| image = Luke Macfarlane.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Macfarlane in 2006
| birth_name = Thomas Luke Macfarlane
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1980|1|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = London, Ontario Canada
| citizenship = {{plainlist|
- Canada
- United States (since 2018)}}
| education = Juilliard School (BFA)
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor}}
| years_active = 2003–present
| partner = Hig Roberts (2020–present)
| children = 1
}}
Thomas Luke Macfarlane (born 19 January 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.
Early life and education
Thomas Luke Macfarlane was born on 19 January 1980,{{cite news|title=Dolly Parton turns 72 today: Celebrity birthdays for Jan. 19|work=Vancouver Island Free Daily|agency=Associated Press|date=19 January 2018|accessdate=19 January 2023|url=https://www.vancouverislandfreedaily.com/life/dolly-parton-turns-72-today/}} 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, then later studied drama at Juilliard in New York City.{{cite web |url=https://www.juilliard.edu/journal/qa-luke-macfarlane |title=Q&A With Luke Macfarlane |last=Rosenblum |first=Ira |date=October 2008 |website= |publisher=The Juilliard School |access-date=29 December 2021 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161112052713/https://www.juilliard.edu/journal/qa-luke-macfarlane |archive-date=12 November 2016 }}
Career
Macfarlane had an early role playing opposite Cynthia Nixon in Robert Altman's miniseries Tanner on Tanner{{cite web|last1=Stanley|first1=Alessandra|date=5 October 2004|title=16 Years Later, It's a Sendup of a Sendup|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/05/arts/television/16-years-later-its-a-sendup-of-a-sendup.html|access-date=20 October 2016|website=The New York Times}} 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.{{cite web|title=Iron Road dramatizes chapter in Chinese Canadian history|url=https://www.straight.com/article-244113/iron-road-dramatizes-chinese-canadian-history|website=Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly|access-date=20 October 2016|date=27 July 2009}}
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.{{cite web|title=Matthew Rhys on Brothers and Sisters|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7043027/Matthew-Rhys-on-Brothers-and-Sisters.html|website=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 January 2010 |access-date=20 October 2016}} Macfarlane's other notable television roles include Jason Howell in the Canadian sitcom Satisfaction,[https://web.archive.org/web/20130627163959/http://www.ctv.ca/Satisfaction/Cast/Luke-Macfarlane.aspx Satisfaction - Luke Macfarlane] CTV.ca Rick Lincoln on NBC's The Night Shift,{{cite web|title=Luke Macfarlane excited about his role as gay military man on NBC's The Night Shift|url=http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/luke-macfarlane-excited-about-his-role-gay-military-man-nbcs-night-shift020714/#gs.IFvRyfA|website=Gay Star News|access-date=20 October 2016|date=2 July 2014|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730184318/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/luke-macfarlane-excited-about-his-role-gay-military-man-nbcs-night-shift020714/#gs.IFvRyfA|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Interview: Luke Macfarlane on "The Night Shift," Gay Military Couples, "Brothers & Sisters" & More|url=http://www.newnownext.com/interview-luke-macfarlane-on-night-shift-gays-on-tv-more/06/2014/|website=LOGO News|access-date=20 October 2016}} Chaplain Hopkins on PBS's Mercy Street{{cite web|title=Luke Macfarlane Talks Christmas Land, Killjoys, Mercy Street, and More [Exclusive]|url=http://www.tvgoodness.com/2015/12/19/luke-macfarlane-talks-christmas-land-killjoys-mercy-street-and-more-exclusive/|website=TV Goodness|access-date=20 October 2016|date=19 December 2015}} and the starring role of D'avin Jaqobis in Syfy's Killjoys.{{cite web|title='Brothers & Sisters' Alum Luke MacFarlane, Hannah John-Kamen and Aaron Ashmore Join Syfy's 'Killjoys'|url=http://www.thewrap.com/brothers-sisters-alum-luke-macfarlane-hannah-john-kamen-and-aaron-ashmore-join-syfys-killjoys/|website=TheWrap|access-date=20 October 2016|date=22 July 2014}}{{cite web|last1=Media|first1=Comcast Interactive|title=Luke Macfarlane On Sexuality and the Sci-Fi Genre In 'Killjoys' - Xfinity TV Blog|url=http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015/06/19/luke-macfarlane-on-sexuality-and-the-sci-fi-genre-in-the-new-series-killjoys/|website=Xfinity TV Blog|access-date=20 October 2016|date=19 June 2015}}
Macfarlane has also starred in TV movies, such as Hallmark Channel's The Memory Book,{{cite web|title=TV Movie Goodness Interview: Luke Macfarlane Talks Hallmark Movie Channel's The Memory Book|url=http://www.tvgoodness.com/2014/07/26/tv-movie-goodness-interview-luke-macfarlane-talks-hallmark-movie-channels-the-memory-book/|website=TV Goodness|access-date=20 October 2016|date=26 July 2014}} Christmas Land, Maggie's Miracle Christmas, The Birthday Wish, and The Mistletoe Promise (2016).
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/billy-eichner-bros-historic-lgbtq-cast-1235019441/ |title=Billy Eichner Sets Historic LGBTQ Cast (With a Twist) for Universal's Bros |first=Lesley |last=Goldberg |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=23 September 2021 |access-date=7 December 2023 }}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2022/scene/news/billy-eichner-bros-queer-cast-1235286489/ |title=Billy Eichner on All-Queer Bros Cast: 'We're Trying to Correct an Imbalance' |first=Wilson |last=Chapman |date=8 June 2022 |access-date=7 December 2023 }}
In a 2025 interview, MacFarlane said his contract with the Hallmark Channel changed many times since he started working for the company in 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hallmark-stars-said-contracts-brooke-103227823.html|title=What Hallmark Stars Have Said About Their Contracts: Brooke Shields, Luke Macfarlane and More|date=15 January 2025|website=Yahoo Entertainment}}
=Stage=
Macfarlane was one of the four leads in Juvenilia at the Playwrights Horizons Theater from 14 November – 21 December 2003.{{cite web|title=Juvenilia, Tale of College Kids and Games of Seduction, Opens Off-Bway Dec. 7 {{!}} Playbill|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/juvenilia-tale-of-college-kids-and-games-of-seduction-opens-off-bway-dec-7-com-116728|website=Playbill|date=7 December 2003|access-date=20 October 2016}} He played the lead role in the American premiere of the play Where Do We Live, staged at the Vineyard Theatre in May 2004.{{cite web|title=Where Do We Live {{!}} Written & Directed by Christopher Shinn|url=http://www.vineyardtheatre.org/where-do-we-live/|website=Vineyard Theatre|access-date=20 October 2016|date=21 February 2013}} 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.{{cite news| url=http://theater2.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/theater/reviews/26busy.html | work=The New York Times | first=Charles | last=Isherwood | title=Questions of Family and Faith in 'The Busy World Is Hushed' | date=26 June 2006}} He reprised his role of Thomas for the L.A. Premiere at the Skirball Cultural Center from 7–11 February 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.{{cite web|last1=Kennedy|first1=John R.|title=Canada's Luke Macfarlane to star in premiere of 'Reverberation'|url=http://globalnews.ca/news/1732214/canadas-luke-macfarlane-to-star-in-premiere-of-reverberation/|website=Global News|access-date=20 October 2016}}
=Music career=
{{BLP sources section|date=June 2022}}
Macfarlane was the lead singer and a songwriter for the band Fellow Nameless,{{cite web |url=https://torontosun.com/2017/06/29/killjoys-luke-macfarlane-admits-his-rock-star-days-are-over |title=Killjoy's Luke Macfarlane admits his rock star days are over |last=Branco |first=Nelson |date=30 June 2017 |work=Toronto Sun|access-date=29 December 2021 }} 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
Macfarlane came out as gay during an interview with The Globe and Mail on 15 April 2008.{{cite news|last=Chelin |first=Pamela |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/a-commitment-to-himself/article1351965/ |title=A commitment to himself |work=The Globe and Mail |date=15 April 2008 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130806184338/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/a-commitment-to-himself/article1351965/ |archive-date=6 August 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=6 August 2013 |location=Toronto }}{{cite news |title=London actor Luke MacFarlane rises to Hollywood lead with Bros |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-actor-luke-macfarlane-rises-to-hollywood-lead-with-bros-1.6601087 |access-date=16 February 2023 |publisher=CBC News |date=29 September 2022}} On 12 June 2018, Macfarlane was naturalized as an American citizen.{{cite instagram |last=Macfarlane |first=Luke |user=ten_minutes_younger |postid=CBV8eXLBlwd |title= 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 |date=12 June 2020 |access-date=29 December 2021}}
Macfarlane plays the cello,{{Cite web |url=https://www.hallmarkchristmasmoviesblog.com/2020/10/did-macfarlane-patterson-really-play.html |title=Did MacFarlane & Patterson Really Play Their Instruments in "Chateau Christmas?" Find Out! |date=29 October 2020 |website=hallmarkchristmasmoviesblog.com |access-date=29 December 2021}} and this skill was used in the Hallmark movie Chateau Christmas. He also plays the trumpet.{{Cite web|url=http://gayinfluence.blogspot.com/2011/11/actor-luke-macfarlane.html|title = Gay Influence: Actor Luke Macfarlane |date=28 March 2020}}
On 4 June 2023, Macfarlane and his partner, alpine skier Hig Roberts, announced the birth of their first child.{{cite web | url=https://news.yahoo.com/luke-macfarlane-officially-father-shares-153803021.html | title=Luke Macfarlane is Officially a Father, Shares Pics of Newborn Daughter | date=21 June 2023 }}
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Film |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2004
| Kinsey | Bruce Kinsey | |
| rowspan="2" | 2006
| Recalled | Lieutenant Sefton | Short film |
| Trapped Ashes
| Vincent | Segment: "My Twin, The Worm" |
| 2013
| Erection | Dean | Short film |
| 2017
| Peter Harris | |
| 2021
| James | On Netflix |
| 2022
| Bros | Aaron Shepard | |
| TBA
| Lone Star Bull | Bull Jackson | Post-production |
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Television |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2004
| Stuart DeBarge | TV miniseries |
| 2005
| PV2 Frank "Dim" Dumphy | Main role; 13 episodes |
| 2006–2011
| Recurring role (seasons 1–2); main role (seasons 3–5); 81 episodes |
| 2009
| James Nichol | TV miniseries |
| 2012
| Phillippe Bertrand | Episode: "Proceed with Caution" |
| rowspan="3" | 2013
| Agent Alan Fahey | Episode: "Proteus" |
| Smash
| Patrick Dillon | Episodes: "The Tonys", "The Nominations" |
| Satisfaction
| Jason Howell | Main role; 13 episodes |
| 2014–2017
| data-sort-value="Night Shift, The" | The Night Shift | Rick Lincoln | Recurring role; 8 episodes |
| 2014
| data-sort-value="Memory Book, The" | The Memory Book | Gabe Sinclair | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| 2015
| 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
| Chaplain Hopkins | Main role |
| 2016
| data-sort-value="Mistletoe Promise, The" | The Mistletoe Promise | Nicholas Derr | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| rowspan="2" | 2017
| data-sort-value="Birthday Wish, The" | The Birthday Wish | David McKinely | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| Karen Kingsbury's Maggie's Christmas Miracle
| Casey Cummins | Television movie (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries) |
| 2018
| data-sort-value="Shoe Addict's Christmas, A" | A Shoe Addict's Christmas | Jake Marsden | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| rowspan="2" |2019
| Just Add Romance | Jason Tucker | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| Sense, Sensibility and Snowmen
| Edward Ferris | Television movie (Hallmark Movies & Mysteries) |
| rowspan="2" |2020
| data-sort-value="Valentine's Match, A" | A Valentine's Match | Zach Williams | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| Chateau Christmas
| Jackson Lewis | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| rowspan="2" |2021
| Ryan Cooper | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| Christmas in My Heart
| Sean Grant | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| rowspan="2" |2022
| Moriah's Lighthouse | Ben McCain | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| data-sort-value="Magical Christmas Village, A" | A Magical Christmas Village
| Ryan Scott | Television movie (Hallmark) |
| 2023–present
| Platonic | Charlie | Main role |
| rowspan="3" |2023
| Leo | Television film (Hallmark) |
| Amish Stud: The Eli Weaver Story
| Eli | Television film (Lifetime) |
| Catch Me If You Claus
| Chris | Television film (Hallmark) |
| 2024–present
| Rick Sheridan (voice) |
| 2024
| Brad | Episode: "Better Late" |
| class="wikitable"
|+ Music videos |
| Year
! Artist ! Title ! Role |
|---|
| 2003
| Seal | Guy chasing after girlfriend in taxi |
Theatre
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role |
| 2003
| Juvenilia | Brondie Chase |
| rowspan="2" | 2004
| Where Do We Live? | Stephen |
| In The Wings (Stage Reading)
| Nicky Sanchez |
| 2006
| {{sortname|The|Busy World Is Hushed|nolink=1}} | Thomas |
| 2007
| {{sortname|The|Busy World Is Hushed|nolink=1}} | Thomas |
| 2008
| Dreamstuff (Stage Reading) | |
| 2009
| {{sortname|The|Jazz Age|nolink=1}} |
| rowspan="2" | 2010
| Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir | Sam Bendrix |
| Some Men
| |
| rowspan="2" | 2011
| {{sortname|The|Normal Heart}} | Craig Donner/Grady |
| Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir
| Sam Bendrix |
| rowspan="3" | 2012
| {{sortname|The|Normal Heart|nolink=1}} | 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
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Luke MacFarlane}}
- {{IMDb name|1682832}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name|22378}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130812091354/http://forums.abc.go.com/sidedish Side Dish] – Luke Macfarlane's character blog for Scotty Wandell
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macfarlane, Luke}}
Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century American male actors
Category:21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Category:21st-century Canadian male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States
Category:Canadian gay musicians
Category:Canadian LGBTQ singers
Category:Canadian male film actors
Category:Canadian male stage actors
Category:Canadian male television actors
Category:Juilliard School alumni