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We Almost Lost A Nipple: 13 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 40-Year-Old Virgin

“He’s a really nice guy and all, but I’m pretty sure that he is a serial murderer.”

We Almost Lost A Nipple: 13 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The 40-Year-Old Virgin

May 24, 2021

It was the movie that launched Steve Carell’s career as a comedy megastar and cemented Paul Rudd’s status as “Paul Rudd.” Yah Mo B There for these 13 behind-the-scenes facts.

13

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Apatow worried that Steve would lose a BODY PART CRACKED.COM We were looking for who was a professional waxer, says Apatow. Somebody said 'this is the person. And the woman who claimed to know how to wax I think lied. She put the wax over Steve's nipple and we almost lost a nipple. That's all I'm going to say. — Rotten Tomatoes YouTube

12

Leslie Mann

BEHIND-THE-SCENESE FACTS Trust the comedy instincts of LESLIE MANN CRACKED.COM Apatow thought her scene should end with cops finding a gun under her seat. And Leslie said to me, 'No, I really think I need to throw up in his face.' And then she made her own vomit out of strawberry yogurt and some sort of breakfast cereal. And it turned out to be one of the biggest laughs of the movie. — Vulture

11

BEHIND-THE-SCENESE FACTS Pain doesn't get more real than the WAXING SCENE CRACKED.COM If special effects can make us believe a man can fly, there had to be a way to fake ripping the hair follicles out of Carell's hirsute chest. But it had to be real, he argues. It wouldn't be as funny if it was mocked up. You have to see it really happening. — ABC News

10

Kelly Clarkson

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS Who is to blame for painful screams of KELLY CLARKSON! Aller 2 NIGHT FIN TOMOR CRACKED.COM Clarkson confronted Judd Apatow on her TV show and he promptly passed the buck. I'm going to blame Seth Rogen. We had a piece of paper with all the curses for Steve to scream when he gets waxed. And on the side with the clean curses, it says 'Kelly Clarkson' in Seth's handwriting. — YouTube

9

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS The musical ending was prompted by GARRY SHANDLING CRACKED.CO Old pal Shandling kept telling Apatow and Carell, You need to find a way to show that his sex is better than his friend's sex, because he's truly in love. After a few days of thinking, Carell asked, What if I just sing a song? Apatow tipped it in with Let the Sunshine In. — Cinemablend

8

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Apatow's directing philosophy? 'NEVER SAY CUT' CRACKED.CO Most films shoot between 300,000 and 400,000 feet of film. To encourage improvisation, Apatow would let the cameras roll long after the scripted lines were read. For 40-Year-Old Virgin, Apatow shot more than one million feet of film, prompting the stock provider to buy champagne for the cast. — Movieweb

7

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS Carell's pitch was based on his sketch at SECOND CITY CRACKED Carell pitched Apatow on a virgin who brags about his sexual exploits to his poker pals. He gets busted when he claims a woman's breasts feel like bags of marbles. And we started thinking what would this guy's life be like? says Apatow. A middle-aged virgin. — Washington Post

6

Nancy Carell

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Outer-course advice was given by NANCY CARELL HOW TO STOP BULLY CRACKED.COM Steve met his wife Nancy at Chicago's Second City. They auditioned together for SNL in 1995 and Nancy was the one who actually landed the gig. She also showed up on The Office as Carol Stills, Michael Scott's realtor and sometimes girlfriend. — Rare

5

BEHIND-THE-SCENESE FACTS Steve Carell became a LEADING MAN CRACKED.COM Carell was an overwrought correspondent on the Daily Show and a brick-brained weather guy in Anchorman, but no one knew if he could carry a picture on his back. (The Office had just started.) 40-Year-Old Virgin proved he could get the girl and deliver the box-office goods. — EW

4

BEHIND-THE-SCENESE FACTS Carell went to bat for JANE LYNCH CRACKED.COM My role was orginally written for a guy, reveals Lynch. And Steve advocated for me and said 'we should bring Jane in for this.' Everything we improvised in the audition ended up in the movie. Including the Guatemalan love song? — Access Hollywood YouTube

3

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS Studio execs thought the cast looked FAT ANDEVIL CRACKED.COM Production stopped after two days because the studio thought Paul Rudd was too fat and Carell looked like a serial killer. To get back on track, Rudd literally stopped eating, according to Leslie Mann. Carell, apparently, just had to lighten up. — Vulture , Cracked

2

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS 40-Year-Old Virgin ushered in the BROMANTIC COMEDY CRACKED.COM Buddy Picture, meet Rom Com. Unlike the Buddy Picture, where unlikely allies came together to overcome crazy obstacles, the Bromance featured fast friends who would do anything to help a compadre in need. — The Atlantic, TV Tropes

1

Anchorman

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS Apatow was sold on Carell after ANCHORMAN 41 63 82 77 CRACKED.COM Apatow was the producer on the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay masterpiece. Carell's improvisational skills on set convinced Judd that he needed to work with Steve again. I was very confident that he was as funny as a human could get. — EW

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