Benjamin Bratt had a few stipulations about joining Prime Video’s raunchy new comedy film Balls Up.
“There was no full-frontal that wasn’t necessarily mentioned in the script,” Bratt, 62, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Balls Up premiere on Tuesday, April 14, at Los Angeles’ Harmony Gold Theater. “But as we got on set, they were like, ‘You know, you might want to.’ [I was like], ‘Nah, I might not wanna.’”
Bratt stars as Santos in Balls Up, a “over-the-top comedy” in which marketing executives Brad (Mark Wahlberg) and Elijah (Paul Walter Hauser) pitch a condom sponsorship with the World Cup. The film, directed by Peter Farrelly, also stars Eva de Dominici, Daniela Mechior, Molly Shannon, Sacha Baron Cohen and Eric André.
“Brad and Elijah go ‘balls out’ and pitch a bold full‑coverage condom sponsorship with the World Cup,” the synopsis reads. “After their drunken celebration in Brazil sparks a global scandal, they must outrun furious fans, criminals and power-hungry officials to salvage their careers and make it home alive.”
Bratt’s Santos is the chief of the Brazilian delegation, who goes out partying with Brad and Elijah ahead of the scandal. In Farrelly’s script, there was the possibility that Santos would strip down.
“There was talk of that,” the director told Us on Tuesday. “He was game for anything! We were going to have a joke there, but it was going to be a very quick one, but we didn’t do it. It wasn’t worth it.”
While Bratt didn’t drop trou for Balls Up, he was open to a butt double — on one condition.
“Well, I merely said, ‘If you’re going to use one, I get approval,’” the actor said. “I don’t know if they used one or not. I don’t imagine they had any need for one.”
Farrelly, meanwhile, confirmed that a double wasn’t used after all.
“We talked about it earlier because he’s, like, 63 years old, and he’s going naked on a rope [course] thing,” Farrelly explained. “I thought, ‘If he’s anything like me, we better get a butt double,’ and then he took off his shirt. We’re like, ‘This guy’s chiseled.’ I would put him up against any 63-year-old in the country. He’s rock solid, so we did not have to get [a butt double].”
Paul Walter Hauser, Benjamin Bratt and Mark Wahlberg in ‘Balls Up.’ Ben Rothstein / Prime Video/ Amazon Content Services LLC
Even without stripping down, Bratt’s comedic chops impressed his costars.
“Benjamin Bratt’s a real actor who’s killed it in dramatic stuff,” Hauser, 39, told Us at the premiere on Tuesday. “Then, he almost steals this comedy movie. It always helps you raise your game and be your best self when you’re surrounded by good people.”
Outside of his acting career, Bratt has found an equally fulfilling home life.
“I have a beautiful life outside of the business,” the Private Practice alum gushed on Tuesday. “Yesterday, I celebrated my 24th wedding anniversary with my beautiful wife, Talisa [Soto], and guess who was along on our date? My two children. That’s how close we are.”
Bratt and Soto, 59, have been married since 2002, welcoming daughter Sophia that same year. The pair’s son, Mateo, followed in 2005.
“[Since] Sophia and Mateo were [there] … I do owe her a trip to Italy,” Bratt said, stressing that an anniversary trip “is coming” down the line.
Balls Up is currently available to stream on Prime Video.
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