House of Guinness actor Anthony Boyle confirms whether he used a prosthetic in full-frontal scene
"Well, I now have an even… girthier crush on Anthony Boyle," one fan wrote after seeing the nude bathtub scene
By Aaron Sugg
House of Guinness star Anthony Boyle has confirmed that his full-frontal nude scene in episode three was real, with no prosthetics used.
The Netflix series, released late last month (25 September), is set in Dublin in 1868 and follows the Guinness family after the death of patriarch Benjamin Lee Guinness.
The actor, who plays Arthur Guinness, the eldest son in the famous brewing dynasty, said the moment was intended to reflect his character’s sense of power and control.
In episode three, Arthur appears completely naked as he stands up from a bathtub, baring all for viewers to see.
“It’s not a prosthetic. It’s my own body” – Anthony Boyle on appearing completely naked in House of Guinness
Boyle told Men’s Health that the moment was not originally written that way in the script: “I called the director and said, ‘He should be drinking whiskey and smoking in the bath, completely naked, to show that he owns the whole world.'”
He added his own creative vision: “He doesn’t even need to speak – that’s his power.”
Boyle noted that he has appeared nude on stage and in film before and wasn’t intimidated by the idea: “It’s not a prosthetic. It’s my own body,” he said.
Fans react to Boyle’s nude scene
House of Guinness viewers have gone wild over the full-frontal scene. One fan commented on X, “Well, I now have an even… girthier crush on Anthony Boyle.”
Another wrote, “House of Guinness is fine, but then they showed Anthony Boyle full frontal – oh my god.”
Throughout the season, Arthur engages in secret relationships with men, most notably with Patrick, a warehouse worker played by Cúán Hosty-Blaney.
“He didn’t feel shame about his own sexuality” – Boyle on his House of Guinness character Arthur Guinness
Speaking about portraying Arthur as a closeted gay man, Boyle told Town & Country: “What Steven [Knight] and Tom [Shankland], one of the directors, and I wanted to get across about Arthur was that he didn’t feel shame about his own sexuality.”
He added: “We wanted to get across that it was society that was wrong, but he was right.”
The real-life Arthur Guinness, later known as Lord Ardilaun, was described by The Irish Times as having “an unconventional marriage” and was believed to have been gay.
The eight episode series was directed by Tom Shankland, who directed the first five episodes, and Mounia Akl, who directed the final three.