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Here's how Jonathan Bailey chose his prosthetic member on Fellow Travelers

Here's how Jonathan Bailey chose his prosthetic member on Fellow Travelers

Jonathan Bailey Fellow Travelers sweaty scene
Showtime

"When you approach a character, you think emotionally, cerebrally, then you have to make a really big choice," Bailey said.

Fellow Travelers star Jonathan Bailey was a guest on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Thursday night and he did not shy away from talking about the more intimate parts of his Emmy-nominated performance!

Bailey was nominated for his first Emmy this year for portraying Tim Laughlin in Fellow Travelers, and on Late Night, he opened up about what it was like choosing a prosthetic penis for the show's many sex scenes.

"It's a very beautiful show. It's a very sad show. It's heartbreaking," Meyers said.

"There's top and bottom notes throughout," Bailey cheekily replied.

Meyers got in on the puns, saying that "there's a very hard transition to the next thing I'm going to ask you about. There is some nudity…"

"There is some nudity yeah," Bailey replied. "I have to say, before we go forth, there are these beautiful sex scenes throughout, which are so important because, you know, when you look at the sort of the power and the oppression of these gay men, when they come together, we explore how the blossoming nature of the landscape where they live, how that affects their sex lives, but also how they come together, and it's beautiful."

Meyers then joked that he felt Bailey had "put me in an impossible situation," to which Bailey said, "I was put in many of those myself."

Meyers then asked what he'd been waiting to ask – about the prosthetic penis Bailey used while filming the show. And Bailey's answers did not disappoint!

"Would you call these stunt doubles? What would you call these, Jonathan?" Meyers asked while holding a card that showed a blurred out image of the prosthetic penises.

"I'd call them props," Bailey smiled.

"And did you have a hand in the decision making?"

"Um, just one hand."

"There's so many things that change with Tim, the character that I play, you know he grows hair, he has mustaches… but there's one thing that remains the same throughout," Bailey continued. "And when we started, obviously you wear sort of a protective layer, obviously to protect yourself, but for the nature of the show, you want to choose something that maybe reflects what's actually going on."

As Meyers showed a lineup of prosthetic penises, Bailey said that the picture was taken on one of his first days on set, and he thought "they've all got their different personalities."

"When you approach a character, you think emotionally, cerebrally, then you have to make a really big choice," Bailey said.

"Is that what you did? You made the 'big' choice?" Meyers asked.

"No, no, no! I think it's only fair. I believe in representation for everyone."

Meyers wasn't done there, as next he pulled out a picture of the undergarment Bailey wore along with the prosthetic penis, but with two large googly eyes on it, causing Bailey to panic and cover the image with his hands.

"On the last day, Beth, my amazing wardrobe assistant, cheered me up," Bailey said, revealing a picture showing the whole thing.

"And I then got home, and I obviously took little Timmy with me wherever I went. And I got home and I unpacked my suitcase to find…" and then he turned over the picture. "Which I feel sort of represents how I was feeling inside."

Watch the entire interview in the video below!

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Mey Rude

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.