The stage and small-screen actor has been cast as the dashing, wayward Jazz Age author F. Scott Fitzgerald in Allan Knee's new play, appropriately titled Jazz Age. Other characters in the drama, presented by the Blank Theatre Company in Los Angeles, are Fitzgerald's tempestuous Southern belle wife, Zelda, and his literary colleague and lifelong frenemy, Ernest Hemingway. Macfarlane, who last appeared on the stage in Playwrights Horizons' The Busy World Is Hushed, is juggling the play with his usual responsibilities on "Brothers & Sisters," now in its third season. Macfarlane talked to Playbill.com about his dual life on stage and screen.

Playbill.com: Before accepting this role, were you a fan of Fitzgerald's work?
Luke Macfarlane: Well, I'm from Canada, and it's a testament to his broad reach that we're asked to read "The Great Gatsby" in Canada. I read it as a kid. It's one of those things that sticks with you. I hadn't read much of his work since then. When I got the role, I went on this binge, reading a lot of the short stories, thinking I wasn't going to have time to read the novels. Then, you know what, I felt I had to read those novels. So, I downloaded them on Audible.com — a wonderful way to hear his work.

Playbill.com: He doesn't have a huge canon, so it doesn't take that long to get through his work.
LM: No, he doesn't. He only wrote a few novels, but every one of them is remarkable.

Playbill.com: Hemingway is also in this play. Are you a fan of his writing?
LM: I had read "The Sun Also Rises," and in preparation for the play I read his "A Moveable Feast," because he speaks a lot of Fitzgerald.