‘Euphoria’ Star Eric Dane on Choosing a Penis — ‘I Had Absolute Control’

Euphoria Season 2 took the idea of frontal nudity to another level. In episode 4 “You Who Cannot See, Think of Those Who Can,” the HBO drama really went there with Eric Dane’s character Cal. He actually had his penis hanging out of his fly for an intense, seven-minute scene with his wife and sons. How does one go about choosing a prosthetic penis? According to Dane, he had “absolute control.”

Cal confronted his past in ‘Euphoria’ Season 2

Fans learned more about Cal’s backstory during the episode when the show flashed back to his teen years. It was revealed that during the summer before college, Cal and his best friend Derek started exploring their feelings for each other. The duo spent a night at a gay bar together, and fans finally saw Cal feeling free and unburdened.

Before the friends got the chance to figure things out, everything changed for Cal when Marsha (Paula Marshall) announced that she was pregnant. In the present day during a bender, Cal returned to that bar for the first time in 25 years. 

At the end of the episode, Cal comes home drunk and starts peeing all over the foyer. When Marsha confronts him, Cal continues to leave his penis out in front of his wife and kids as he delivers his monologue.

While fully exposed, Cal unloaded his trauma and told his family about the men he had sex with when Marsha was pregnant. He admitted to concealing many emotions, and he confessed that he didn’t understand anything about his own son Nate (Jacob Elordi).

Eric Dane ‘had absolute control’ choosing a penis

The long and devastating scene is part tragedy, part dark comedy. Dane said that his first thought when reading the script was, “I better start working on this right now because it’s a lot of words.”

“But I thought it made sense. I mean, you know, Cal is a deeply conflicted character,” Dane told Men’s Health. “And he’s been living this double life for the better part of his adulthood. At some point, he’s going to reach his breaking point.” 

While Dane had a lot of work to do when it came to memorizing his lines, he also had another job to do for the scene — choose a prosthetic penis. The Grey’s Anatomy alum says that he was in charge of choosing the prosthetic penis because it belonged to his character. 

“I had absolute control over the penis. Because it was supposed to be mine. I approved it. I said, ‘This looks like a nice penis. Let’s use this one,'” Dane revealed.

‘Euphoria’ star Eric Dane found the scene to be ‘freeing’

The scene took an entire day to shoot, which Dane described as “somewhat exhausting, but also exhilarating.” The actor says that everyone managed to stay in character and stay connected for the duration — no one cracked. Dane also confessed that he actually enjoyed filming the scene.

“It’s very freeing to do a monologue with your penis out. I hope everybody becomes a bit more comfortable with their appendages after this show,” Dane said.

Euphoria Seasons 1 and 2 are now playing on HBO Max.