Savage Love: Best Foot Forward

I'm an actor in New York City. A lot of people think actors are whores, but last week I almost became one. I responded to a casting call for a film project called Sniff. The ad — on Playbill's website — called for two male actors to film a short scene. The pay was $100 for a day's work. I was e-mailed the scene to study. It starts with two male roommates chatting on a couch. The bigger, more muscular roommate confronts the smaller, scrawnier roommate about his obsession with socks. Two pages later, the smaller roommate is being ordered to sniff, lick, and caress the larger roommate's feet. The scene ends with the smaller roommate being forced to hold the bigger roommate's big toes in the corners of his mouth while smiling for the camera. Write a screenplay and hire actors — is this something foot fetishists do to make low-budget softcore porn? I'm not a hater of fetishists, but it is a little strange to see something like this in a casting ad.

By Dan Savage

March 13, 2013