We were already planning to watch Hollywood, Ryan Murphy‘s newest Netflix offering (available to stream May 1st), but star Jim Parsons just sweetened the pot. According to him, the show features lots of envelope-pushing male nudity, in addition, we assume, to compelling characters and drama.
The limited series focuses on an aspiring group of performers (some fictional, some based on real people like Rock Hudson) who come to post-World War II Hollywood in hopes of making their dreams come true. Unfortunately they encounter the same kinds of prejudices–homophobia, racism, sexism–that pervade the rest of America at the time. The group also encounters Tinseltown eccentrics, ranging from nutty actors to the diva wife of a studio boss to a hustler that runs a brothel out of a gas station.
Related: WATCH: Fresh-faced Rock Hudson arrives in Ryan Murphy’s ‘Hollywood’
Speaking via videolink to Ellen at her $24 million prison, Parsons recounted one particular pool party scene that he found “really awkward and shocking at first” because of all the nude extras floating around the set.
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“I mean, I’ve gone to a lot of gay clubs in my time, and I’ve never seen that many naked people at once, ever. Well, I mean, I don’t think that’s legal in most places,” Parsons said.
“But it was really awkward and shocking at first, we were surrounded by so many naked people, and I just kept trying not to look, but there really came a point – I mean, it was hours we were doing this – where I stopped not trying to look at some points.
Related: Man sounds alarm on serious problem plaguing locker rooms: Male nudity
“I was just like, you know what? What I really feel is admiration, to have that kind of relationship with your body that you’re able to just walk around naked in front of the huge crew, and all these other actors and everything, in and out of the swimming pool, I was like, ‘I am in awe’. That is the healthiest, I think, type of [mindset].
“Now, I want to add, there wasn’t a bad looking one in the bunch, so they worked for that confidence – or they were born with it, I don’t know.”
Parsons plays Hollywood talent agent Henry Wilson in the show, who launched Rock Hudson (Jake Picking) to stardom.
Season one of Hollywood premieres on Netflix on Friday, May 1.
Kangol2
Do it, Ryan Murphy! And even with the nudity, what he’s depicting is probably a lot tamer than the reality of that time.
LamarTrotsky
Not according to people who attended director George Cukor’s legendary, boys only, Sunday pool parties.
Kangol2
Wait, so you’re saying that what Murphy is portraying IS NOT more tame than what happened, or, as I said, IS more tame than the reality of that era? I’ve read and heard many stories, and believe me, it sounds like it was a very wild time. Whatever the case, I’ll still be watching it because it sounds great.
Josh447
Seriously on my schedule to watch.
Woteva
Guys (especially seasoned ones like me) really should read Scotty Bower’s book FULL SERVICE. I’m summising threads of his memoir have been used in this new production. Scotty was a very handsome (and VERY hung) guy who led a very busy life after leaving the forces and working at a gas station in Hollywood. To say he was pumping gas AND pumping ass is an understatement. I bought the book (devoured it in a day) after watching the documentary about Scotty and his escapades on one of the streaming platforms while I was over in LA (from the UK) for a couple of months last year. I really wish I could have met him. After I watched the documentary I researched him – only to discover he’d passed away just a couple of months before. He certainly lived his life to the full and must have been a hoot at dinner parties.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I personally find Jim Parsons quite adorkable….
ridgelineranger
I read Scotty Bower’s book too. It was interesting, but lacked detail where it was needed. Example, he claimed to spend the night with Cary Grant and Randolph Scott who were said to be lovers. Mr. Bower could have given details of their tryst, but simply said “a good time was had by all”. And none of the people he wrote about were alive to dispute his claims. Surely there must be an actor of Mr. Bower’s age still alive that he could have mentioned, but like they say, you can’t slander the dead.