Wild Things cut a homoerotic scene involving Kevin Bacon and Matt Dillon after one of the actors refused. Released in 1998, the erotic thriller follows a police detective in Florida who makes a series of surprising revelations as he investigates a high school guidance counselor accused of raping two female students. Replete with steamy sex scenes and crazy plot twists, the film achieved cult classic status and was followed by three direct-to-DVD sequels – Wild Things 2, Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough, and Wild Things: Foursome. Other than Bacon and Dillon, Wild Things also starred Neve Campbell and Denise Richards.
Speaking to Yahoo Entertainment for the 25th anniversary of Wild Things, director John McNaughton revealed that another steamy sex scene was originally included in the script, but was never shot. The shower sex scene between Bacon and Dillon's characters occurred shortly after the pair were revealed to be conspiring against the two young women, though the scene was scrapped because one of the actors refused to do it. Read what McNaughton shared about the scrapped scene below:
In the original version of the scene, Matt walks into his bathroom to take a shower and there's Kevin. They were supposed to look each other up and down and then wham — go at it. I love surprise, and I love stuff that I don't see coming. But in that moment it was like "You win some, you lose some; we're moving on."
Wild Things' Homoerotic Scene Probably Wouldn't Be Cut Today
Though the Wild Things director John McNaughton declined to specify whether it was Bacon and Dillon who reused to film the homoerotic scene, both actors have commented on the abandoned plot twist in the past. In a 2005 interview, Bacon said the reveal was "great" and blamed the film's financiers who "didn't like the idea of men making out." The same year, Dillon said he was "relieved when they got rid of that scene," nothing that Bacon "seemed pretty attached to it, though." Based on these comments, it appears Dillon was the one who refused to film the scene.
Twenty-five years after Wild Things' release, it's safe to say that its homoerotic scene probably wouldn't be cut today. The big studios are becoming increasingly comfortable with depicting homoeroticism on screen, which Bacon notes wasn't the case in 1998. Straight actors are also becoming increasingly comfortable filming homoerotic scenes, which McNaughton claims wasn't the case with Wild Things. Even though the homoerotic scene was cut, a hint of the character's romantic relationship did make it into the final film during a flashback scene that appears during the closing credits.
Source: Yahoo Entertainment