Luke Macfarlane melted our hearts as Scotty, Kevin Walker's hubby on Brothers and Sisters. Now he's back on the small screen in NBC's new medical drama, The Night Shift, playing Rick, the G.I. boyfriend of closeted doctor Drew (Brendan Fehr).

Our sister site The Backlot caught up with Luke and asked him about his character and the reality for gays in the military today.

Where are Rick and Drew in terms of their relationship? They’ve been apart but is it pretty solid or more tenuous?

Luke Macfarlane: They’re pretty solid. I think they’re actually representative of a lot of the military guys that I’m friends with, in that they have these really clear boundaries about what can and can’t be discussed. But I think that they really value each other and they bond over this sort of separate life that they have together.

It seems like even after the end of Don't Ask Don't Tell, being out is still an issue in the military for some. 

LM: It’s such a complicated issue. Frankly, I’m not entirely well-equipped [to talk about it], but I’ll offer some insight. It always takes a certain amount of courage to just say, "this is what I am." People are very reluctant to define themselves We know it’s okay theoretically to be gay, but sometimes you just don’t want to be known or seen that way. You want to keep your secrets.

We do this in all kinds of aspects of our lives and, especially in the military culture. I found that any sort of self-expression is itself kind of frowned upon. I mean, they all wear the same thing, they all have the same haircut and a lot of them have the same interests. So to say, "I’m this," is not necessarily a good thing...  It’s not that anyone’s going to get kicked out, it just takes stepping outside of the fold. And that’s not always something they want to do.

Drew is very bullish and has a lot of rage that he gets out through his mixed martial arts. Does Rick balance that out?

LM:  [Rick's] sort of the gardener. I’m sure they balance each other out… [but] I will say this: There might be sort of a role reversal, with Drew as the caretaker. My rage might come out a little bit later [and] Drew might have to sit on his anger for a bit while I deal with mine.

While Fehr recently told reporters kissing another man made him "really uncomfortable," Macfarlane insists his onscreen love interest was eager, prepared and professional:  "He’s very serious about his work and really enjoys talking about the scenes. I was tremendously impressed with him," says Macfarlane.

"Everyone was just really, really working hard, and Brendan especially. He’s great--and very handsome."