In 'Mother of the Bride,' Wilson Cruz is Perfectly Fit to Star with Hollywood's Sexiest Middle-Aged Actors

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.