Twitter went crazy over nude images and video of Jesse Williams in Broadway’s Take Me Out began circulating online Monday (May 9) night.
On the heels of his first-ever Tony nomination for his role in the Broadway play, Williams plays a successful, gay baseball player who faces personal and professional repercussions after coming out at the peak of his career. He has been nominated for best performance by a featured actor in a play at the Tony Awards.
In order to protect the production, Second Stage’s Hayes Theater requires all attendees to place their phones in a sealed Yondr case before the show. Guests may hold onto their devices, as long as they remain locked “out of respect and support for our actors and in order to create a phone-free space,” according to the theater’s website.
Williams however doesn’t mind being nude and opened up about people’s initial reactions when they first heard he was taking the role.
“Everybody around me [was] going, ‘Are you serious? Are you sure? Nude, nude? Naked, naked? Front?’ Everybody makes such a big deal,” the actor said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen Monday (May 9).
“It’s a body. Once you see it, you realize [it’s] whatever. It’s a body!” he added.
“Isn’t it much better when you feel good about your penis?” Cohen asked Williams about his full-frontal scenes.
“I would imagine so. I don’t, so I don’t know,” Williams responded before adding with a laugh, “I’m just kidding, I’m just kidding.”
His interview aired a few hours after the photos and videos of him leaked online.
Take a look at some of the reactions below:
