The Boys' Erin Moriarty Had An Unfortunate Lube Mix-Up On The Set Of Herogasm
There are moments in television history that will always be remembered. Iconic moments like the final episode of "Cheers" when Sam Malone turns out the lights at the bar, or the record-breaking finale of "M.A.S.H.," and the unforgettable, uncontrollable giggle that Mary Tyler Moore lets out at Chuckles the Clown's funeral. And, who can forget the epic superhero sex party that took place on season three of "The Boys" at the 70th Annual Herogasm.
There was a deafening level of hype leading up to the "Herogasm" episode, and although it didn't quite reach the X-rated, Dionysian heights found in the pages of the comic book, it was still a show-stopping sequence in a series chock-full of shocking moments. Granted, it's difficult to catch all of the debaucherous acts taking place around the TNT Twin's mansion, including, but not limited to: a floating Starlight vibrator, an icicle dildo, electric nipple clamps, genitals aflame, and an octopus sharing a bed with The Deep (Chase Crawford).
The Herogasm was an absolute pleasure to watch considering that it's a rare night in primetime where something so wonderfully depraved is given a platform. For the cast and crew, on the other hand, bringing such a memorable piece of the comics into live action was challenging and, shall we say, educational for some of the more wholesome actors in attendance. Being that physical and vulnerable in front of the camera is never easy, and shooting the episode was especially difficult considering that the entire Herogasm scene was shot during a global pandemic.
Some confusion on set
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, season 3 of "The Boys" had strict protocols in place to ensure the safety of everyone in the production. Of course, those strict guidelines had quickly become the industry standard for every film and television series at the time. Those other shows, however, weren't about to film a simulated meta-human sex romp featuring 40 completely naked extras on a closed set over the course of five, long days.
"It's a minefield of things that could go wrong," executive producer Eric Kripke told Entertainment Weekly. "It's a lot in terms of producing and management." That seems like an understatement. Kripke went on to describe the difficulty of keeping the various props involved with the sexcapades they were capturing on film and the necessary sanitation items stationed on set:
"Dotted all over the set are these huge bottles of lube as set decoration, but also dotted around the set are huge bottles of hand sanitizer because of COVID. So literally every 10 minutes you would hear someone just yell 'Oh s—!' because they thought they were sanitizing their hands, but they just got a huge gooping handful of lube."
Umm ... gross. At least they were all able to tell the difference between the various masks of C-list Supes lying around and the N95 masks that were the required Personal Protective Equipment (PPP). Actor Erin Moriarity who plays Starlight on "The Boys," also ran into the same problem. Well, almost. Luckily, the "Herogasm" episode on the show wasn't nearly as elaborate and unprincipled as the weeklong orgy that went on within the panels of Garth Ennis' comic, illustrated in glorious detail by Darick Robertson.
Starlight gets an education
Walking on to set for Moriarty proved to be an eye-opening experience, to say the least. It's hard to know for sure, but hopefully, she knew she was making television history that day. Providing another illuminating account of the lube-to-hand sanitizer ratio, "The Boys" star had this to say (via EW):
"I was exploring the set for the first time and it was loaded with sex toys that I didn't even know existed, sex swings, and a bed that rotates on an electrical rotation device. It just was filled with so many goodies. I was walking around and touching all of these dildos and I go to use some hand sanitizer. I pressed the pump and the entire crew went, 'No! No! No! No! No! No!' That just symbolizes so, so much."
As an entertainment journalist who has attended multiple set visits over the years, walking around the "Herogasm" set would have been a career highlight if the invite had ever been sent out. After the following quote from producer Grellong, reiterated by Kripke, I may have changed my mind rather quickly. Grellong described day 1 of the shoot as being "really novel and you're surrounded by all these beautiful naked people." By day 2, "they're all naked mole rats and you just want to get outside."
From this story alone, it sounds like season 3, episode 6 of "The Boys" may be as close as we'll ever get to seeing a twisted version of the highly controversial "A Serbian Film" on Prime Video. That's probably a good thing.