Exclusive

How to Make a Merkin, a Fake Penis and More Raunchy Props in Hollywood

Go inside the funny business of NSFW movie gags

By Marc Malkin Jul 14, 2016 11:00 AMTags
Watch: Sugar Lyn Beard Explains Her Hairy Situation

Anna Kendrick's butt double wasn't the only NSFW decoy used in this summer's raunchy comedy Mike and Dave Need Weddings Dates.

Her co-star Sugar Lyn Beard went full frontal with an assist from what she calls a "vagina wig."

Beard sported a very bushy merkin for her nether regions. "I just wanted like a fury thick bush that would make women proud," she told E! News at the comedy's Hollywood premiere last month.

With that in mind, we're taking a look at how Hollywood makes merkins, fake penises and more adult-only comedy props.

The movie's costume designer Debra McGuire was asked by director Jake Szymanski to find just the right one. "We were actually surprised to be asked to take this on," McGuire says. "Merkins are usually handled by the hair department. So the first thing we did was to look online. It was amazing to see how many choices there were. Who knew! We ordered several to see which patch resonated with Jake. As an old hippie I was quite familiar with the 'bush' styles!"

Watch: "Vacation" Cast Talks Chris Hemsworth's Fake Penis

Other for-the-laughs merkin cameos include Heidi Klum's heart-shaped number in 2001's Blow Dry and Anna Faris' gigantic one in Scary Movie in 2000.

Male actors also get a lot to choose from when it comes to showing off their junk in comedies.

Just ask Chris Hemsworth.

Before filming last year's Vacation reboot, the Thor star tried on a variety of dildos for a scene in which his character shows off his massive bulge in a pair of boxer briefs. "We went bigger, bold!" Hemsworth said. "It was embarrassing, hilarious and probably more for other people than me."

But who needs a sex toy when ya got household goods on hand. John Cena's fake peen in Trainwreck came from the props department.

"Jimmy was our prop guy and he was whittling [the top of a broomstick] one day. I was like, 'What you doing, Jimmy? What you working on?'" Trainwreck star Amy Schumer recalled. "He was like, 'I'm making John's erection.'"

read
Zac Efron Talks Dildos and Going Full Frontal
Watch: Rose Byrne's Vomit Gag in "Neighbors 2"

(While it's not a comedy, we have to give a shout-out to one of of the most famous pieces of faux manhood on the big screen—Dirk Diggler's 13-inch member in Boogie Nights. Mark Wahlberg was fitted with a custom-made plaster prosthetic for the big reveal with the bulge in his pants throughout the 1997 dramedy being a woman's stocking filled with birdseed.)

NSFW body parts aside, Hollywood loves a raunchy sex scene played for laughs. In this year's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, Rose Byrne throws up in Seth Rogen's face (and mouth!) while they're having sex.

The fake vomit was actually oatmeal. "It was pretty gross," Rogen said, adding, "It was the full puke."

And the full funny—and that's all that really matters.

Watch
Why Tom Hiddleston Got Naked for "Crimson Peak"