The “$30,000 butt rig” was almost in Billy Eichner’s “Bros,” director Nicholas Stoller recently revealed to Entertainment Weekly. The gadget, previously described as a “very expensive prop” by cast member Luke Macfarlane, was used to replicate rimming in one of the movie’s sex scenes. But the butt rig was left out of the final cut.
In reference to the highly publicised sex scene in the Emmy-winning HBO series “The White Lotus,” Eichner continued, “We were going to shoot a rim job moment, but then ‘The White Lotus’ beat us to the punch, so we removed it.”
In an extended sex scene where Aaron (Macfarlane) and Bobby (Eichner) enthusiastically embrace each other’s sexual eccentricities, the “$30,000 butt rig” is employed. According to Macfarlane, the butt gear was manipulated off camera by “two puppeteers.”
The “Bros” sex scenes are nonetheless hysterically humorous and a celebration of same-sex affection even though there is no rimming.
According to Eichner, “Sex can be humorous, awkward, foolish, and absurd, but it can also be romantic and wonderful, and it also helps the story because the sex these guys have develops throughout the course of the movie as their relationship gets more close and vulnerable. “At the beginning of the movie, both of these people are trying so hard to be strong, but at the conclusion, I say that I’m sick of being furious and sick of being strong, and we watch that tale develop — sex is part of that.”
Before the film’s official release, Eichner remembers conversing with a heterosexual moviegoer at a Chicago test showing. What did you think of the sexual encounters between me and Luke, I queried him. He remarked, “It kind of reminded me of “Jackass,” which is a show that’s largely done for physical comedy. I felt uneasy, but it was just amusing. I didn’t care because it was amusing. That struck me as nice and comforting. If it’s hilarious, they embrace it.
Now showing in cinemas across the country is “Bros.”
