I always wondered how actors do simulated sex scenes without getting hard. They are rubbing up against someone, and even though there are the crew in the room, you would think there would be more. Has any actor talked about this? Do they beat off before the scene?
I just recently rented
Shortbus. In the DVD commentary about the threeway scene, the actors say that they all took Viagra to prepare for the scene. Unfortunately, the didn't know that shooting that scene had been postponed and that they were going to film another scene instead. So in the other scene, they were sweaty and flushed and their lips were very red, because Viagra increases bloodflow to the skin. During editing, the director had to have a colorist take the red out of their skin, and even then, their lips are still very red in that scene.
One of the actors said that when it came time to film the sex scene, not only had the Viagra worn off, but it had never really worked in the first place because in order for it to work, you still have to been in an arousing situation. He said that for him the scene was NOT arousing to film. (And it took 6 hours.)
So in answer to your question, I don't think they have trouble not getting hard. They are too busy concentrating on acting. It's just the opposite problem really. If it's one of the few films where they are supposed to be hard, they have trouble getting it up and keeping it up.
If you're not familiar with
Shortbus, check out the Web site.
::SHORTBUS::