Penile Prosthesis in Nude Scene in La Bola Negra

The Spanish actor Miguel Bernardeau (“Élite”) has weighed in on the question of whether he wore a prosthetic for his nude scene in the gay historical drama “La Bola Negra.” He was first pressed on the topic in early October by host Henar Álvarez on her talk show “Al cielo con ella” on Spain’s La 1 network.
Bernardeau initially denied it — and then corrected himself: “Ah, wait. One moment, no, sorry, sorry. Yes, some prosthetics were used. I wear many kinds of prosthetics,” he said. He was actually referring to the prosthetics used to depict the injuries of his film character.

In “La Bola Negra” Bernardeau plays Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, a mining engineer, footballer, and actor who was close to poet Federico García Lorca and is considered his lover. In the 1937 thread of the story, Rafael is wounded in the Spanish Civil War and brought to a hospital. There he meets the trumpeter Sebastián, played by musician Guitarricadelafuente, who makes his on-screen debut in the film. Sebastián is meant to guard and care for Rafael — and a romance develops between the two men. In a shower scene where Sebastián helps wash Rafael, Bernardeau is fully nude; the camera briefly shows his penis.
In the same program, Bernardeau also publicly stated that since the film’s release in Spain he has been subjected to insults on social media. The Spanish portal FormulaTV reported.

Director Defends Casting

Bernardeau is heterosexual. Director Javier Ambrossi defended the decision to cast him in a gay role to the American industry trade publication Variety: “I completely understand why straight actors want to play gay roles. It’s their craft, portraying people who are different from themselves. I’m not against it.”
The political statement is nonetheless present — through queer people both in front of and behind the camera, Ambrossi continued. “I suspect Miguel is at such a good point in his career that he wanted a challenge.” About the character he said: “Rafael wasn’t an openly gay man. He was insecure — someone who couldn’t say what he wanted.”

Three Gay Men, Three Eras

The drama from directing duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, known as Los Javis, interweaves three stories from the years 1932, 1937, and 2017. It follows Sebastián, Rafael, and Alberto, whose lives intersect even though they never meet. The film is inspired by an unfinished Lorca work, who was murdered in 1936. “La bola negra” translates as “The Black Ball”: members of some clubs used such balls to vote on new admissions, and a black ball signified rejection. In Lorca’s fragment, he tells of a young gay man who is rejected in this way.

In addition to Bernardeau and Guitarricadelafuente, the cast includes Carlos González and Milo Quifes, with Penélope Cruz appearing as a revue singer and Glenn Close as a literary scholar. At Cannes, “La Bola Negra” won the Best Director award in May, and the film was also recognized at the Toronto Film Festival (TheColu.mn reported). Spain has submitted it as its entry for the Foreign Language Oscar. In Germany, the drama opens November 19 in theaters through Pandora Film.