One of the most memorable and talked-about moments on HBO's Girls, ever — and that's saying a lot — involved one Matthew Rhys and one prosthetic penis. And while there have been many discussions on that specific prop from Dunham, Rhys himself, and the behind-the-scenes crew, one person has remained quiet on the entire thing: Rhys' longtime partner, Keri Russell. That changed last night when The Americans star paid a visit to Late Night With Seth Myers, where she finally spilled on that now-infamous nude scene.
"He said he was gonna do that and I was like, 'Who are you sleeping with?' Like, 'Who do you have sex with on the show?' And he was like, 'Well it's not quite like that,'" Russell explained to Meyers after he asked her about the scene in question.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
In the episode, Rhys plays a very famous and acclaimed author who unceremoniously exposes himself to Dunham's character, Hannah Horvath. But the thing is, it isn't his actual penis, it's a prosthetic — and Russell added that though she had no input on the situation, she understood Rhys' phallic conundrum.
"And then there was the whole thing where he got to choose his own [prosthetic penis]," Russell added. "But he's in such an awkward position, like, 'If I choose a giant one, people are gonna be, like, 'What a dick.' So he's like, 'I just, like, let someone else do it.'"
Russell was a great sport about it, laughing throughout her interview with Myers and navigating what could have been an awkward conversation like a champ. There were no hard feelings or embarrassment on her part.
Rhys has gone on the record explaining that he had the option of choosing a fake penis on his own. Ultimately, he decided to let the Dunham, showrunner Jerri Konner, and director Richard Shepard handle it. After all, he didn't want to fall victim to the predicament Russell mentioned, size-wise.
"They kindly offered, and I said, 'No, thank you. You choose,'" Rhys told Vulture. "I said, 'That's fine, thank you. That's the one I'll use.' It wasn't the one used by Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights. No. Clearly not. That one is far larger!"
Check out Russell's whole interview, below.