Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in Watchmen

'My attitude toward [appearing nude] was: I’ve been working out, I’ve been getting in shape, it’s HBO, and I’m young. [And] guys can do it, too. Nudity on television was one-sided for so long, but times are changing, where it’s not that big of a deal and guys are being asked to carry their own weight, if they’re willing. So I said, ‘I think it will be fun,’ and I was confidant about getting out there and stepping up to the plate. I was really happy with how it all turned out. I think we tried to make sure everything was tasteful — tasteful and comfortable.'

I've loved Watchmen since episode 1, and it's only gotten better with each subsequent episode.  I took notice of actor Yahya Abdul-Mateen II from the beginning, it didn't hurt he had a brief butt flash in the show's pilot.  What we didn't know however, nor initially, the actor himself, was that Angela's husband Cal would turn out to be Dr. Manhattan.


Last Sunday's episode featured the ultra hot actor naked, a lot.  There were brief frontals, as well as many long, lingering shots of his incredible butt as he slowly walked through time.   Unlike actor Billy Crudup in the film version, everything we saw looks to be real.


I don't really have an issue with actors using body doubles, that's an actors's ersonal choice, I hate CGI'd body parts however, and body parts that don't look real.  Earlier this season we saw lots of actor Tom Mison.  Unfortunately, Mison took to social media to alert viewers the penis in question, wasn't his.  I really didn't care, for me, it's about believing what you see is real and I questioned Mison's need to let everyone know he used a double.


Recent HBO shows like Watchmen and Euphoria, have really focused on male nudity far more than nudity.  I respect Abdul-Mateen's views on his on-screen nudity, and  agree that times are changing.  I think there's been male nudity in almost every episode of Watchmen, close to 3 or 4 times the amount of female nudity they have shown.


'We felt the nudity was essential. That was such an important element of the source, that he was a big blue naked guy. So it would have been false to not have that in the story. It would have been false to not have that in the story. In terms of directing it, you treat it like any intimacy or love scene. I just make sure the actors are 100 percent comfortable with, and I go through the shot plan and show him my design so he knows which cameras are full nudity, which ones aren’t. First and foremost, what’s important is his being comfortable with it. And because it’s motivated by character, he was fully supportive of it.'