In "G.B.F.", a high school student finds himself cast as the hottest new teen-girl accessory: the gay best friend.
Actress Andrea Bowen plays one of the coeds engaged in a friendly competition to land the recently-outed classmate as their first "G.B.F."
Writer George Northy wrote the part of "Shley" with Bowen in mind.
"I didn't ever examine playing any of the other characters really 'cause I already felt pretty territorial over "Shley" and also kind of like this connection to the character, and she's so wonderful, and so so stupid," said Andrea.
"Shley" is a far cry from the majority of roles Andrea's played, most notably on "Desperate Housewives."
"They've been relatively smart, or mature for their age, or wise beyond their years, or whatever other adjective you wanna give them, but she's not, she's really not that way," said Andrea.
The film allows the actors to go over the top with caricatures, stereotypes and costumes.
"We wear platforms even when we have a scene in the movie where we're working out, so it's just crazy and I would take it all if I could, and I got none of it," said Andrea.
While Andrea and her colorful friends attempt to shape their "G.B.F." into their own versions of the ideal "arm candy," we learn he's not the only one with secrets. And that's something the filmmakers think all young people can relate to.
"Everybody has something that they're hiding, something they are trying to figure out and work through for themselves," said Andrea.
The "Mean Girls" meets "Clueless" satire had to work through one battle no one expected: it earned an R-rating, for what the MPAA calls "sexual references."
Andrea calls that disappointing and unsettling, and thinks many other teen comedies tackle similar storylines.
"The only difference is that they're featuring a straight protagonist and we are featuring a gay protagonist and it's sad to me that that's what happened," said Andrea. "It's unfortunate but the fight goes on and hopefully people see this film and hopefully it helps in some way."
"G.B.F." is in limited release now and is also available on video on demand.
