“You have got to really be careful with that thing and make sure you clamp it down before you tuck it away,” said one star — while another said he kept his!
Baring it all on camera can be an uncomfortable experience for actors — even if there is an intimacy coordinator on set. That’s why some male celebrities opt to wear a prosthetic while filming their NSFW scenes. While it may look like they’ve fully stripped down on camera, they’re not actually showing off the real thing and it hopefully makes the whole process a little less awkward.
Find out which stars used a prosthetic…
1. Charles Melton
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For Charles Melton’s role in May December, he says he ended up wearing a prosthetic while filming a sex scene with Natalie Portman. While he says the whole thing was very “professional,” he noted that actually wearing the prosthetic for so long was annoying.
“There were a few conversations about the prosthetic, regarding what was realistic and what wasn’t,” Charles explained to Variety. “I had to wear that prosthetic for nine hours that day. I didn’t have anything to drink that morning or the night before. That was an annoying process but still very respectful.”
2. Theo James
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Theo James had to go full frontal for a scene during the season 2 premiere of The White Lotus — so it was suggested that he wear a prosthetic. He says he even got a say in what it was going to look like.
“The truth of it was you go into these things and you have a conversation with the director and the producers, and they go, ‘OK, for this, we’re going to use a prosthetic, we’re gonna use something,'” Theo shared on The Tonight Show.
He continued, “It’s a pee-pee prosthetic…[I told the makeup artist that] I wanted it not to be distracting. He needs to be [a] regular Joe because the scene’s not about the pee-pee, it’s about power play in sex [and] whether he did it deliberately or whether it was an accident.”
3. Sebastian Stan
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When Sebastian Stan portrayed Tommy Lee in Pam & Tommy, he ended up wearing a very unique prosthetic. Since his character has a full conversation with his nether regions, the prosthetic was mechanical and actually required puppeteers.
Then, for another scene in the film, Sebastian had to walk around in a silk G-String — but when he wore the prosthetic with the underwear, it was totally unrealistic. A special effects makeup designer ended up having to design a “garment penis” for scenes where Sebastian was wearing clothing.
“His prosthetic was so big that once you put it in the G-string it looks like he’s got serious health problems,” costume designer Kameron Lennox told Thrillist.
4. Mark Wahlberg
Back in 1997, Mark Wahlberg used a prosthetic for his full frontal scene in the Boogie Nights. Reflecting on the process, Mark admits it was “awkward” and “uncomfortable” as he had to strip down and the prosthetic had to be sculpted around his body. Then, when it was first made, it was too large and he had to show everyone on set.
“I had to come out to the set and show everybody… Then they had to modify it a little bit… You had this weird guy putting it on you and you have to wear it all day. There’s not a way to go to the bathroom so it’s pretty weird. But actually it’s the only prop I’ve ever kept from a movie!” Mark admitted on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
5. Adam Scott
When Adam Scott filmed The Overnight alongside Jason Schwartzman, both of the men were wearing prosthetics. Adam says it made the experience easier but it was still an uncomfortable process.
“It’s easier. But it’s weird because, other than the prosthetic, I am naked. And the prosthetic looks real. So for all intents and purposes I am naked, and everyone is seeing me naked. That’s what a naked person looks like. Like, exactly what a naked person looks like,” he shared with GQ.
6. Taylor Zakhar Perez
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In Taylor Zakhar Perez’s show Minx, he plays a firefighter who becomes a model for an erotic women’s magazine. There ended up being a lot of nudity in the show during which Taylor wore a prosthetic. While talking about stripping down for the series, Taylor said he was all for it as long as it made sense for the scene.
“I’m all for it. If the project and the scenes call for it, why not? But I think just to throw a bare-chested woman or ass-out guy into the scene without it making sense, then it’s gratuitous and takes away from the quality of the content,” Taylor told EW, adding, “But I think when my mom sees it is when I will be a little freaked out.”
7. Chace Crawford
Chace Crawford donned a prosthetic while shooting a promotional campaign for The Boys — but it ended up being a little too much. When the studio saw the final photo, they decided that Chace’s bulge needed to be edited out.
“[Showrunner Eric] Kripke was like, ‘We get no notes from Amazon, but the first one we got was that can’t f–king happen, we’ve got to take that out.’ And we had to edit it out,” Chace told Daily Mail Australia.
8. John Cena
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In his movie Trainwreck, John Cena had to strip down to almost nothing, so the costume department recommended that he wear a prosthetic. At the end of filming, he even got to take it home.
“I have a ‘big part’ because of the costume department, I was gifted a stunt penis. I had to do a sex scene that involved me being almost all the way naked. I had to stuff myself in a small nylon sock and they gave me a stunt penis to insinuate an erection,” John shared on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
9. Will Poulter
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For Will Poulter’s scene in We’re the Millers where his character was bitten in the balls by a tarantula, the actor had to use a prosthetic. During the scene, everything down there needed to appear swollen so using a prosthetic was the best option.
“[Putting it on] was a bit of a trial. I got intimate with a very talented man called Tony who saw a lot more of me than what I care to show anyone else,” Will told Metro. “I’m not sure it is that brave. I mean, it’s not exactly a tough day at the office.”
10. Chris Hemsworth
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For Chris Hemsworth’s nearly-nude scene in Vacation, he ended up using both a body double and later, a ten-inch prosthetic. Director John Francis Daley says they originally tried out an eight-inch version but it wasn’t big enough.
“The morning we shot that sequence, we went into another room in the house we were shooting in and Chris modeled the eight-inch and the ten-inch options for us,” John told Vulture, noting that the eight-inch didn’t work. “As big as it would seem, it did not look that big on him. I think it was just because Chris is such a big, hulking dude.”
11. Eric Dane
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Eric Dane bared it all in a scene for Euphoria but kept covered up with a prosthetic that he says was held together with rigs and clamps. Looking back, Eric shared that it was an unusual thing to deal with while filming an emotional scene.
“You have got to really be careful with that thing and make sure you clamp it down before you tuck it away. Sam [Levinson] and the cast were super supportive,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “From the start, whipping out his penis and peeing all over the vestibule of the house, the symbolism there is pretty strong. And then being confronted by his wife and telling her how lonely he is. That’s a funny way of conveying those feelings to somebody.”
12. Matthew Rhys
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Matthew Rhys wore a prosthetic during his infamous scene on Girls and he actually got to help pick out what it was going to look like. While they tried to involve him in the decision, his wife Keri Russell later explained that it was an awkward situation.
“He got to choose his own [prosthetic]. And he’s like, ‘This puts me in such an awkward position. Like, if I choose a giant one, people are gonna be like, What a dick… So he’s like, I just let someone else do it,'” Kerri shared on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
