Joel Kim Booster talks about his brief (or lack thereof) appearance on HBO’s current frontrunner Industry and he’s not holding back.
The 36-year-old actor was approached by the creators of Industry with a particular role in mind. Reflecting on the offer, he shared:
“They had this part written and came to me saying, ‘There’s this creep in a steam room, and we immediately thought of you.’ I guess the brand is strong.”
However, creators Konrad Kay and Mickey Down had one non-negotiable for Booster–he would have to strip down to his birthday suit, and thank the heavens because Joel shares about shooting in the nude:
“I didn’t think about it at all when I initially said yes.” Adding, “It was an exciting opportunity to do something really different.”
Related: Joel Kim Booster Gives ‘Industry’ a Full-Frontal Stimulus Package
In the third episode of the show, titled “It,” Joel takes on the role of Frank Wade, an analyst in the equity and research division at Pierpoint & Co. Frank is tasked with publishing a buy-or-sell recommendation for Lumi, a green energy tech company owned by Sir Henry Muck (played by Kit Harington). Things heat up when Harry Lawtey’s character, Rob, tries to influence Frank’s decision by joining him in the sauna room and attempting to flirt with him.
Related: Welcome Back to the “Industry” Kit Harrington!
Talking about shooting the popular scene:
“I was more nervous about stepping into a prestige HBO drama than I was about the nudity, because the nudity is pretty par for the course for me in my everyday life.”
Joel spent most of his time filming with Lawtey, who empathized with him, having also done full-frontal scenes before. Reflecting on preparing for the role, Joel says:
“It is crazy because it didn’t really dawn on me until right before we shot. All of my nudes that have leaked online previously, it is my hard penis, okay? With a flaccid penis, there’s a lot of variables at play. It can look a lot of different ways.”
Image via X (@WStuartross)
Audiences have been buzzing about Joel’s sauna scenes since it came out seeing as how Frank and Rob’s hot sweat was rolling down their chiseled bodies. Talking about his reaction to the viral moment, Joel says that he’s “not displeased” and that his concern was about looking good whilst sitting more than the full-frontal scenes:
“One of the hardest things to do is look hot naked while sitting. It’s been a longstanding fitness goal of mine to look good without my shirt on while I’m sitting. It is such a difficult thing to achieve. That was a much bigger concern of mine than being full-frontal.”
Image via X (@mattrett)
Discussing his approach to the sauna scene, Joel explains how he and the director opted to keep it ambiguous to enhance Harry’s character development. The open-ended nature of the scene invites viewers to imagine more, and Joel hopes this could pave the way for future appearances—or even a spin-off show!
A little tip from Joel–run to your search engines:
“If you want to see me naked, it’s readily available if you know the correct search terms and dark web websites to visit. And I continue to this day to send out my naked pictures of myself to random strangers frequently.”
Hey, with a bit of luck, you might just end up being one of those lucky strangers…respectfully!
Source: Vanity Fair, The Wrap