The White Lotus star Theo James has revealed that his Episode One nude scene was initially going to be "more graphic."
Joining the hit HBO show for Season Two, which swaps Maui for Sicily, James stars as Cameron Babcock in Mike White's The White Lotus, and he's made a big impression on fans with a full-frontal nude scene.
According to James, the scene in question, which has already caused quite the stir on social media, had a version that was too revealing to show on TV so they had to shoot a more "subtle" edit.
"The initial version we shot was way too much," James revealed in an interview with Entertainment Tonight. "So, we did a more subtle version. They toned it [down]."
The scene in the series premiere sees James' Cameron Babcock as he follows Aubrey Plaza's Harper Spiller to her hotel room where he plans on borrowing a pair of swimming trunks from Harper's husband. As Babcock changes into the shorts in front of Harper, she catches a glimpse of his nudity in a mirror while fetching some suncream and doesn't know where to look.
Speaking of Harper's wandering eyes, James said: "It's interesting, at first we don't know whether it's deliberate or it's accidental. But it reveals itself."
But, according to the actor, the nude scene serves a purpose—we just had to wait until Episode Five to find out what that is. "It's always character-driven. It's always, you know, moving the [story] forward," he added. Speaking about his career, he included this quip: "It is in my contract that I'm not allowed to do anything without being completely naked. It's funny because we're all kind of naked. It's a holiday show, really."
But while the production team toned down the scene, they enhanced James's physical appearance for the clip. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, James recalled a conversation that he had with the production team about using a prosthetic penis. "He needs to be Regular Joe," James said. "Cause the scenes... you know, it’s not about the pee-pee—it’s about power play and sex. It’s about whether he did it deliberately or whether it was an accident and what that means and all that kind of stuff. And she says, 'I got you. I got you.' Regular Joe."
To the actor's surprise, the prosthetic that was delivered was much larger than he requested. "We get to set and she’s got, like, a hammer or something," James continued. "I mean, it’s bigger than that. It’s like she stole it off a donkey in the field. The thing is ginormous. And me and the director, Mike White, are sitting there going, ‘That’s...average, is it?’" James and White were reportedly so taken aback, that they called their wives to apologiSe for what would transpire.
So there you have it, folks. The pee-pee in question didn't belong to James after all.
Reporter, Digital Spy
Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy.
A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre.
In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.
