Before Stephen Amell was cast as the hero in Arrow, the actor played second fiddle to Thomas Jane on HBO's Hung. "In the hung hierarchy, I was the less hung guy," Amell joked on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno Apr. 23. "I made up for it with enthusiasm. I played Jason, the young, sweet, enthusiastic hooker."
On his first day of work, the 31-year-old was asked to disrobe on camera. Though sex scenes can intimidate some actors, Amell wasn't concerned about being nude on set. "The only person it would be weird with is your parents. But you don't say to them, 'I'm playing a hooker on TV,'" he explained. "You say, 'I'm on a TV show.' 'What channel is it on?' 'HBO.' 'What's it about?' 'Ehh. . . Detroit?'"
Amell added that he didn't like being covered up during nude scenes — mostly because he hated the sock male actors wear to cover their genitals. "It's more of a pouch. It's terrible. I'd rather be naked. It's embarrassing," the actor admitted. "Once somebody points at it and laughs, then you're fine."
The Canadian star — who is also a registered insurance broker — may tackle another racy role if he gets cast in the film adaptation of E.L. James' Fifty Shades of Grey.
"I had a meeting with the studio that is doing that movie and we spoke about it. I anecdotally brought it up on my Facebook page . . . and all of a sudden it was this big news story. I'm flattered if any movie role and my name are mentioned in the same sentence, because there haven't been a ton of them," Amell said. "I'm still an actor who wants to work all the time."
