Eric Dane Opens Up About Filming His 'Intense' Full-Frontal 'Euphoria' Scene

Eric Dane is talking about a much-buzzed about scene from his new HBO show, Euphoria!

The 46-year-old actor, who plays Cal Jacobs on the show, spoke about the premiere episode, which aired on Sunday (June 16) with Entertainment Weekly.

The episode featured Eric‘s character in a highly controversial scene, committing rape with a 17-year-old trans girl, Jules (Hunter Schafer). The scene included full-front nudity, including fully erect male genitalia.

“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,” he said.

He also confirmed that a prosthetic was used.

“I’m willing to do anything that’s critical to the story and crucial to creating a very real and truthful feel to how the story is gonna go down. I just don’t see how you shoot a scene like that without showing nudity. And, you know, it kind of matches the stakes. The stakes are so high, you can’t hold anything back, really,” he added.

“Using a prosthetic is sort of protocol. It’s protocol and it’s also very considerate to your scene partner. There was one isolated shot that I suggested, ‘Look if it makes more sense to not use a prosthetic, I’m willing to go there.’ At the end of the day, because of the context, we decided that the prosthetic was the way to go, and we came to that decision as a group.”

For more from Eric about his new series, head to EW.com.