“The document that the background actors were given was created by an outside extras casting vendor,” HBO said this afternoon amid a controversial day on the set of Westworld, its upcoming sci-fi series that had more than 55 extras in the buff and taking part in “graphic sexual situations” before the cameras.
“It was not requested, written or approved by HBO, Warner Bros. Television, or the producers, and contains situations that we do not require of any actor,” the premium cabler said. “We are rectifying immediately the discrepancies in this vendor’s document with our actual on-set practices, which provide a professional and comfortable working environment for all performers.”
Hollywood extras agency Central Casting is handling all background actors’ requirements for HBO and Westworld. Sources say no decision has been made whether the series will continue to employ the company’s services after today’s PR debacle.
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HBO’s statement comes after my colleague David Robb reported today that a rare explicit casting requirement resulted in the rare step of a SAG-AFTRA representative being on the set to monitor the situation and make sure it conformed to the union’s Television Agreement.
“This document serves to inform you that this project will require you to be fully nude and/or witness others fully nude and participate in graphic sexual situations,” said a consent agreement distributed among extras by Central Casting. “By accepting this Project assignment, you may be required to do any of the following: appear fully nude; wear a pubic hair patch; perform genital-to-genital touching; have your genitals painted; simulate oral sex with hand-to-genital touching; contort to form a table-like shape while being fully nude; pose on all fours while others who are fully nude ride on your back; ride on someone’s back while you are both fully nude; and other assorted acts the Project may require. The Project will also include language and sexual situations that some may consider personally objectionable or uncomfortable.”
The SAG-AFTRA deal states that consent by actors to appear in scenes requiring nudity or sex acts might be ended at any time, that the production’s set has to be closed to anyone not directly involved with the filming of such scenes, and that no still photography is allowed without the authorization of the background actor.
Westworld was one of 11 projects overall to be conditionally approved by the California Film Commission in June in the first round of production tax incentives under the now-$330 million-a-year program. The first season of the HBO show received a little more than $12 million in credits on expenditures of almost $54 million.
The reboot of the 1973 theme-park-robots-gone-wrong film written and directed by Michael Crichton stars Ed Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden and Thandie Newton. The new Westworld is produced by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Jonathan Nolan, writer and EP Lisa Joy and Warner Bros TV, with the late Jerry Weintraub also listed as producer.
Westworld is expected to debut on HBO in 2016.





Oh, HBO. LOL.
It’s not porn; it’s HBO!
Publicity stunt.
Agreed. It’ll work though.
Yes, the “outside extras casting vendor” decided, all on its own, to release an extremely sexually detailed casting notice because HBO did not, repeat not, ask them to do so. Nancy and her team at HBO are a lot smarter than this, they must be having an off day or something.
Shut up.
“The document that the background actors were given was created by an outside extras casting vendor,”
There’s nothing wrong with the document. It was frank and honest. The real mistake was the production going to Central Casting instead of hiring REAL porn actors to be in the background scenes.
If JJ and company had done that in the first place, no one would’ve called SAG on them.
Why doesn’t the industry just develop its own Pornworld section & be done with it? I’d say this all seems like an increasing trend (on whose agenda?), but it’s more likely to be craven seeking after $. Just leave half of the industry without porn at its foundations, o.k.? That way there might be something without porn (and/or nihilistic unlimited violence) left for everyday folks to enjoy. If people really don’t want to end up lving in a world run by robots, they might try putting more effort into writing stories that human beings can relate to.
Human beings can relate to sex.
Related sex is incest, no?
Yeah, it’s getting to the point now where the word ‘cable’ is becoming synonymous with ‘porn’. Sad.
You just gave me an idea for a new company. Thanks!
Agreed. When did telling a good story or making people laugh go from talent to smut? When did morality and decency get thrown out in favor of depravity and gratuitousness? No thanks, Hollywood.
There is NOTHING wrong with simulated sex…I just think the hand to genital contact is going a little far…unless the actors want to…maybe…but that is not something I would require of actors.
Agreed. Writers these days are lazy.
So what? More puritanic nonsense.
Tell it to Emilia Clarke
I think you meant prurient nonsense.
Then go leave civilized society and live with the rest of the animals.
Yeah, because civilized people don’t have sex.
Of course they do……..just not with people like you.
Sounds awful. I’ll pass.
When will we as a country grow up and stop feeling the need to pretend to be mortified by nudity and sex? This non story has now taken up three separate columns in today’s Deadline. Good grief. The only thing “shocking” about any of this is that the show is actually filming in L.A. County and not in Louisiana or New Mexico and production is paying these consenting adult background actors well above scale! There is NO controversy here people, move along…
I’m not mortified by nudity or sex but I’ve seen some pretty mortifying things in my day when the two mix.
No controversy, just disappointment. There’s plenty of porn already. I watch certain cable and streaming networks for good stories. Then there’s the sex scene, and it’s neither short enough for me to ignore nor is it long enough for me to go to town on it, if you know what I’m saying. So, it’s just stupid.
AMEN! The only reason this is news is because the casting notice is detailed and honest about SEX and NUDITY, not because there is anything wrong with the casting notice!
Read the article, this is genital to genital touching which means the possibility of contracting venereal diseases.
So please spare us the ‘nudity as art’ argument. No production has any right to put people’s health in danger over some dumb tv show.
I don’t think people have basic objections to nudity and sex when it is artfully done. It is nudity and sex merely to titillate and to promote promiscuity. When it is done to glamorize and portray as acceptable activities that lead to transmission of STD’s. People object to sex that adds nothing to the story line.
Bet you a nickle there won’t be a condom in sight.
And you know all of this because you already saw the end result, right?
Oh the humanity. At least give the kiddos SAG vouchers or something…exploiting background actors, sheesh!
Why the walkback HBO? You guys are leading in the race to the bottom of the sleezey barrel.
“contort to form a table-like shape while being fully nude” WTF?
I’m just wondering if they’re face down or face up during that position. The latter could be interesting.
HBO has become THE platform for gratuitous nudity (comparable to Cinemax “after-dark). It has little/nothing to do with “art” nowadays and everything to do with getting fanboys and male-centric audiences to tune-in… Gratuitous nudity is worse than having a narrator (people who studied literature will know what I’m referring to)
And they wonder why everyone moving away from tv.
HBO robot porn. Was anyone really surprised that it might have been true? It’s probably a misinterpretation of a notice that in spirit is just as nasty.
You can shoot people to death with bullets but show some private parts and everyone goes crazy.
Murcia!
That’s the playbook for all those pay-tv shows: show a little s*x or T&A in every episode, no matter how bad the script or acting is.
Every episode must contain s*x or T&A. That’s the standard for all pay-tv shows. Nice publicity stunt, HBO. Ever wonder why more and more viewers are cutting the cord?
Yeah, cutting the cord and getting the same channel as a standalone app or just downloading it illegally.
Clearly people don’t have interest in cable-shows anymore, yeah.
Go back to church.
Duh.
God forbid HBO have a show without useless or gratuitous sex in which they believe are daring or titillating scenes , when the likes of which, in reality, pales in comparison to what any 10 year old can (unfortunately) find on the net in 5 seconds.
No one has commented on the funniest thing in the document: the pubic patch. That will be horrifying to viewers who think men and women should look like pre-pubescent children. It is to laugh.
Did we go to far? I mean, it wasn’t us!
I haven’t had HBO in 20 years, and I don’t see any reason not to go back either.
Brilliant move! Look at all the buzz which was creted…
The wannabes will line up with the assurance from some casting execs and managers that this will further their careers, by showing a willingness to work for the artistic vision of high-level creatives. And if they need to talk about it more there’s the cocktail party at one of the executive’s home in the Hills which they also get an invite to and will probably get them upgraded to featured extra.
It’s not porn, it’s HBO
“perform genital-to-genital touching” isn’t there a word for this?
Yes. It be called “intercourse” in polite company; fu^cking if the company is not polite.
Artistry, especially in performance arts like acting, is the ability to simulate real life without having to resort to it. What HBO was shooting was porn.