With Hollywood winning viewers on Netflix, the show’s leading actors have revealed that the original tone was to be far more explicit. In fact, actors David Corenswet and Jeremy Pope had to go through a fitting for prosthetic penises.
Pope and Corenswet, who play the aspiring writer Archie and the would-be actor Jack, respectively, tell Stars in the House that the Ryan Murphy-produced show was originally meant to have a considerable amount of full-frontal nudity. The show focuses on a group of aspiring talent who come to Hollywood to pursue their dreams, but end up working at a gas station brothel that caters to LGBTQ people instead.
“My first day on set — it’s fine, I did the camera test, it’s all good,” Pope recalls. “Then it’s like, ‘Hey, Jeremy, let us know when we can fit you for your prosthetic.’ And I’m like, ‘Ooh, does [my character] get beat up? What am I getting?'”
Related: WATCH: Jeremy Pope, Jim Parsons & Jake Picking dish on the ‘Hollywood’ casting couch
Costumers then informed Pope that he would need a prosthetic penis for certain nude scenes. The later actor had to break the news to Corenswet himself.
“I thought he meant a face prosthetic,” Corenswet admits. Pope then told him that both men would need to wear prosthetic tallywackers for certain scenes.
Ultimately, the two actors never got to meet their artificial co-stars. Before cameras even rolled, Murphy and the other products dialed back the raunchiness of the series, focusing more on the characters and scenery of old Hollywood.
Darren Criss, who also co-stars, doesn’t mince words when it comes to the original concept. “There’s no f*cking numbers on the dial anymore for how raunchy it was,” he says. “There was sh*t I clutched my pearls at.”
davegun2
Darren Criss the best ally we have in the alphabet community. He speaks like a gay man, “There was sh*t I clutched my pearls at.”
Love him love his views on things.
Woteva
If he ever wants his pearls clutched properly, I’d be happy to help!
BigJohnSF
I thought it was funny that Criss’ character was half-Filipino for about 10 minutes in one episode. Probably since Criss is half-Filipino, but “passes” easily for white. (As was Andrew Cunanan, his Emmy-winning role.) I imagine Criss insisting “No, Ryan, he has to be half-Filipino!”
It never came up again.
Joshooeerr
Except that it’s his entire motivation for casting a black woman in his movie.
jamesfrankie900
Now I am happier than ever… I work from home and I am my own boss now like I always wanted… I see a lot of unhappy people around me, working the same old boring job that’s sucking the life out of them day by day… Everytime I see someone like that I say START FREELANCING MAN! This is where I started..? 6.gp/a72Xf
Bromancer7
I really don’t understand the whole prosthetic thing. What’s the point of doing full-frontal nudity if it’s all fake? Just show real penis.
billhaven
Easy to say when it isn’t your penis that will be scrutinized, made into a meme and forever available to generations to come.
rock9221
I think the issue was these two characters were prostitutes and their size has been alluded to by their customers / tricks. I think the idea was to give folks an eyeful. Just guessing.
JED08
Agreed, enough with prosthetics. Those guys already have perfectly good parts.
Brian
They should have gone with the raunchier version, because what they ended up with was pretty bad. I tried to go along with the fantasy world they were creating, but the last episode was just typical Ryan Murphy hitting you in the face with a frying pan to get his woke message across.
The actress that played Camille is gorgeous, though. So there’s that.
justgeo
The show is a piece of shit!
Cam
What a shock, a troll doesn’t like a show with LGBT representation. (eye roll)
contrary1
And how many episodes did you watch before making that determination??
Joshooeerr
I’m gay, I’ve watched it all, and I concur. It’s trash. Conceptually flawed, extremely poor writing, leads over-acting like crazy to cover how clumsy it all is, and some hilariously bad performances by the actors playing stars like Vivien Leigh, Noel Coward and Tallulah Bankhead. Great sets and costumes, though.
geb1966
Your opinion is a piece of shit
kwrbear
‘fitting [actors] for prosthetic penises’
That’s a CV entry to be proud of.
johnnymcmxxx
The minimal amount of male nudity wasn’t a disappointment however the series was. I never expected it to be a docudrama but I did expect better from the writers, the actors and Ryan Murphy. Even the better performers, Jim Parsons and Patti LuPone, had their characters eventually sentimentalized ridiculously. Easily it’s the worst production yet from Murphy, for whom I am usually grateful. Next.
PoetDaddy
I agree with you. More male nudity would have been SOMETHING to like about it.
UCLADave
Well it’s obvious Ryan Murphy has a thing for guys inTighty Whiteys because Hollywood had multiple guys wearing them and American horror stories he has had multiple guys in white briefs Ryan Murphy must have a thing for that
nm4047
I know it’s referenced as LaLa land, but this show was sooooo far from any truth (even today) so good costumes etc, but the story line was just rubbish. What was shown isn’t even going to be close to the truth of the Hollywood machine (or the USA) in 50 or 100 years. Just another Murphy dramatisation of an era with 1 or 2 actual names in amongst the story and unfortunately there are people that get their history from these type of shows and will be convinced this is what the world was like.
Josh447
That was the point, it was a mock up of what if the surpressed got recognized. Did you know that?
geb1966
It was CLEARLY marketed as a “What could have been” story. Rock Hudson and Henry Wilson’s stories weren’t supposed to be accurate. Murphy said he wanted to imagine what might have happened had people stood up against racism, homophobia and misogyny. Maybe you she pay more attention, dear.
Boston495
The show was “over the top” in some ways, but it was ultimately disappointing. They should had added the prosthetics. If you are going for camp, go all the way. And prosthetics make it easier for the actors because they are always ready and don’t have to rise to the occasion, on command.
Doug
Now that Ryan Murphy has moved to Netflix, I expected a lot more skin in this series. Unfortunately, it’s actually tamer than what he was producing on FX. I’m wondering why they decided to leave so much footage out the final cut of “Hollywood.”
sportstar2600
Men got prosthetic dingles and berries and the women got the incredible costumes. The women definitely got the better deal
strap2900
It was exactly what it was meant to be, a guilty pleasure, not an oscar contender.
PoetDaddy
There are lots of “guilty pleasures” where the writing, acting, and directing are not so generally sub-par.
happychef2
No it is not an Oscar winner, but I thought the costuming was great. The story was typical Ryan Murphy- I enjoyed a lot….it was over the top, and like strap2900 said a guilty pleasure.
Daggerman
..don’t like Darren Criss. Because he reinforced notions that Gay men were unstable in The assassination of Gianni Versace.
Daggerman
….when we watch TV we expect not to see any mundane things. Meaning you never really get the real story. I protest I do not like hetero men playing gay men just because they enjoy getting flattered…