In Fictional Selves, MacLachlan recalled director Paul Verhoeven asking him to appear fully n— during one of the 1995 film Showgirls‘ most infamous pool scenes.
“‘Kyle,’ he says, ‘when you walk across the pool deck, and we shoot you here, and you have a giant e——, and you walk into the pool, and we see this…’ ‘Hold on a second,’ I say, snapping to attention. ‘Paul, I’m sorry, you can’t shoot me from the front,'” he remembered. “I stay congenial, despite the insane suggestion. Paul acts confused. ‘Yes, we see it from the front. We see you—’ ‘Ah no,’ I say. ‘I’m not going to do that.'”
MacLachlan continued, “‘Listen… it’s not a problem if you can’t get an e——; we can make one in,’ he says, not a trace of irony. ‘We can paint one any size you want.’ ‘Sorry, Paul,’ I say, my heart beating quickly at the potential for conflict. ‘You can shoot me from the back walking to the pool.'”
When Verhoeven continued proposing ways to film the scene, MacLachlan stood his ground and pointed to the terms of his contract. The disagreement was eventually resolved, with the Golden Globe winner agreeing to be filmed from behind instead.
“He shoots me from behind, thank the lord. I’ve seen it written that what you see in the movie here is a body double, but I assure you it’s not,” MacLachlan wrote. “That is my backside. And I make sure that’s all it is. Film is forever.”