Bros Cut A Sex Scene With A $30K Butt Rig Because Of White Lotus
We regret to inform you that "Clerks II" lied. Not only is it totally acceptable to go ass to mouth, but it feels awesome, and it's an extremely popular sex practice. Whether you call it tossing a salad, rimming, performing analingus, or eating the booty like groceries, it's not uncommon or even taboo anymore to admit to sampling the forbidden door. Despite this increase in normalcy, Hollywood still fails to include instances of this sex act in its storytelling, but to be fair, Hollywood also fails to include any sort of foreplay... at all. In Billy Eichner's new gay rom-com "Bros," he and director Nick Stoller wanted to subvert the usual expectations, and successfully managed to reclaim the "funny gay sex scene." In our review of the film, writer Sarah Milner described the film as "a surprisingly sweet love story, but also a love letter for the greater LGBTQ+ community."
The film follows the formation of a relationship between Aaron (Luke MacFarlane) and Bobby (Eichner), who endure the typical trials and tribulations of figuring out how to make a relationship work when they don't seem to have very much in common. "Bros" is unafraid to showcase gay sex, and there's plenty of it throughout the film. But one scene didn't make the cut.
As was reported by Entertainment Weekly, the crew on "Bros" said that the original script called for a simulated scene of analingus, complete with a "butt rig" with a price tag of about $30,000. Unfortunately, the scene ended up getting cut, but not for the usual reasons of homophobia or MPAA rating needs. As it turns out, the Emmy-winning hit HBO series "The White Lotus" put the kibosh on the very expensive scene, simply by beating the film to the punch.
A viral bootyjob flipped the script
Murray Bartlett won an Emmy for his portrayal of Armond, the gay, recovering addict resort manager of the titular paradise getaway. In one of the most memorable moments of the first season, a character walks in on Armond diving face first into the cheeks of employee Dillon (Lukas Gage). The moment was the talk of social media for days, with many blown away by HBO's willingness to show the act in a matter of fact matter. Eichner joked with EW that they modeled the butt prop after producer Judd Apatow's own ass, and Macfarlane had been tasked with putting his mouth on it while two "puppeteers" moved it from the opposite side of a bed.
"Sex can be funny, awkward, silly, and absurd, but also romantic and sweet, but it also serves the story, because the sex that these guys have, it evolves over the course of the movie as their relationship becomes more intimate and vulnerable," Eichner said. "Both of these guys are trying so hard to be strong at the beginning of the movie, and I say at the end the movie that I'm sick of being angry and I'm sick of being strong, and we watch that story unfold — sex is part of that." Eichner also confessed that some instances of spitting were also cut from the final film, but they obviously didn't cost nearly as much as the puppet butt.