When Tom Hooper’s vision for Cats first debuted over the summer, the online reaction was massive. Instead of the actors donning furry costumes and makeup for the big screen version of the hit musical, they’ve been CGI'd to look like singing and dancing cat-human hybrids. Some have likened it to nightmarish images, but the film’s Rum Tum Tugger, Jason Derulo, has another horror to think about.
Apparently the pop singer’s penis was removed in post-production. When Jason Derulo was asked about it on Sirius XM’s Andy Cohen Live, here’s what he said:
125 percent. I could see it in the trailer, for sure.
On the set of Cats, the star-studded cast including Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson, James Corden and Taylor Swift, wore skin-tight green suits and their fur was added in later. But it looks like Jason Derulo’s manhood didn’t make the cut. He sounded a bit bummed, but said it was to make his character look as “cat-like as possible.”
Last month, Jason Derulo dealt with some further censorship of his genitals when a picture he posted on Instagram in tight swim shorts was removed by the social media site for going against its guidelines. Derulo posted Instagram’s message to him on his story, resisting their decision with the comment: “I have underwear on… I can’t help my size.”
Jason Derulo previously talked about the experience on set in those tights on the set of Cats to E!, explaining that the cast was practically naked on set together everyday. In his words:
You had to be pretty confident in yourself to come out every single day and see each other – all of each other. There’s moments where you’re sniffing people’s butts, cuddling up to Judi [Dench]. It’s really close, really a vulnerable place. You don’t really think about it when you’re in the moment, but now looking back: that was madness. Really crazy. We went there.
Well, now we understand what one early reaction to the film meant when she said Cats is “way too horny for its own good” after the movie premiered in Los Angeles on Monday night. There's no official consensus on the musical adaptation just yet, but someone did call it the ”best musical film since Grease.”
The movie has certainly faced some controversy over its use of CGI. In fact, Tom Hooper told the first viewers of the film during the premiere that he’d only finished the movie the day before. Cats' theatrical cut was only finalized on Sunday morning after 36 hours of straight work, according to the director. The movie has gone through some changes to its CGI since the first release of the trailer as well.
Cats also has quite the price tag to it, as it reportedly had a budget of close to $300 million, which, if true, is in the ballpark of Justice League and Solo: A Star Wars Story. Cats hits theaters this Friday, December 20.
