Steve Carell's 40-Year-Old Virgin Waxing Scene Was Painfully Real
No method acting was required during Steve Carell’s waxing scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin – unfortunately for the actor, his pain was very, very real. Director Judd Apatow and Steve Carell are such comedy mainstays today it’s hard to believe The 40-Year-Old Virgin was Apatow’s directorial debut and Carell’s first starring role. The 2005 R-rated comedy sees Carell play Andy Stitzer — a hapless, nerdy electronics store employee who inadvertently lets slip to his co-workers he’s still a virgin.
Andy’s co-workers David (Paul Rudd, Living With Yourself), Jay (Romany Malco), Cal (Seth Rogen) and Mooj (Gerry Bednob) vow to help him lose his V-card. Being pretty dysfunctional themselves, however, their advice is often misguided. Case in point: Jay’s suggestion that Andy undergo painful chest waxing to get rid of “that whole Teen Wolf thing” he has going on. The resulting scene sees poor Andy have waxy clumps of hair ripped from his chest as he unleashes a stream of expletives and hilarious non-curse words to cope, including shrieking Kelly Clarkson’s name at one point — which was Seth Rogen’s idea, apparently.
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It’s important to note that part of what makes The 40-Year-Old Virgin so funny is that a good deal of the banter between characters is improvised. Unfortunately for Steve Carell, the wince-inducing wax scene was off the cuff too. Watch The 40-Year-Old Virgin’s infamous waxing scene in all its torturous glory below.
Steve Carell's screams of pain were all real and captured documentary-style with the help of a four-camera set-up. The rest of the cast’s reactions — Paul Rudd giggling in the background, Seth Rogen cringing, or Romany Malco looking horrified
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