How Hollywood Faked It: A-List Stars Who Used Prosthetics for Full-Frontal Scenes

Let’s talk about on-screen nudity, because it ’s rarely as simple as it looks. Some actors go full-frontal. Others lean on prosthetics. HBO ’s Euphoria has done a bit of both, and two of its stars have spelled out how those choices actually get made on set.

Eric Dane: why he wore a prosthetic in the Euphoria pilot

Eric Dane, who plays Cal Jacobs (and, yes, used to walk the halls on Grey’s Anatomy), told Entertainment Weekly back in June 2019 that shooting the explicit stuff is less sexy than it sounds and way more technical than you think.

"Those scenes are very difficult to shoot. It helps to have one voice in your ear. One voice that you can express your feelings to, and somebody that is an advocate for the actors. It just simplifies a lot of things and makes for a safe and comfortable environment while shooting something that is fairly uncomfortable to shoot. And certainly, the stuff that we did in the pilot is no exception. It’s a pretty intense scene."

That pilot scene: Cal meets up with an underage Jules (Hunter Schafer) after chatting on a dating app. Dane wasn’t personally against doing nudity, but he says the team collectively decided he should wear a prosthetic penis for that sequence. Translation: it wasn’t just his call; it was a production-wide choice to keep a very charged scene controlled and safe.

Jacob Elordi: nudity as part of Nate’s whole deal

Dane’s on-screen son, Jacob Elordi, talked about his many, very revealing scenes on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in March 2022. He basically said the nudity comes with playing Nate, the hyper-masculine jock. In his words, the character’s vibe means he’s often shirtless and the sexual content is baked into the role. Not exactly thrilling for the actor, but it tracks with who Nate is on the show.

• Eric Dane (Cal Jacobs) said in June 2019 that graphic scenes are tough, and the production made a group decision for him to use a prosthetic in the pilot’s encounter with underage Jules (Hunter Schafer).
• He emphasized having a single creative lead and an advocate on set to keep it safe and straightforward when filming uncomfortable material.
• Jacob Elordi (Nate Jacobs) told Ellen in March 2022 that frequent nudity is part of playing an ultra-macho jock, so the exposure fits the character’s world.

Point is, what ends up on screen is usually a blend of actor comfort, character logic, and a lot of carefully planned choices. Sometimes that means full-frontal. Sometimes that means a prosthetic. And on Euphoria, it’s very much by design.