Broadway star Jonathan Groff has discussed the effect of wearing harnesses and assless leather chaps has had on him, saying it “awakened” something in him.

The actor, 40, is currently starring on Broadway in the Bobby Darin musical Just in Time for which he was nominated for a Tony Award.

Appearing on the Shut Up Evan podcast with Evan Ross Katz, the Tony Award winner was asked about a famous picture of himself wearing assless leather chaps while attending the Beyoncé Cowboy Carter Tour.

The Glee actor confirmed he had also bought a leather harness, which he wore to a friend’s birthday themed ‘c***-clave’, from The Leather Man, a New York City boutique.

“I got very excited”

Asked if all gay men should try harnesses at some point in their life Groff replied, “If they want to.” He then shared, “Honestly, for me, it awakened things in me. I got very excited. It felt amazing.”

Groff also recalled feeling something similar while wearing a harness previously in Berlin. “Seeing people in harnesses, I was like, ‘What is that? Why do they do that?’ And then I put it on, and I was like, ‘I love this.’”

The Looking star also touched on nudity on-stage and on-screen. In Just In Time Groff appears in his underwear in one scene.

“Usually, when I’m naked and I’m having sex on camera, I’m thinking more about the blocking, I’m not thinking about how my body looks necessarily,” he said. “It’s in there, it’s not like presenting my body to the camera, or presenting the body on stage. It’s intimate; the lighting is a huge part of it. And, you know, the blocking of the f***ing.”

He went on to say the nudity in Just In Time felt a bit more like “showboating.” He continued, “for the fun and wink of it than being naked.” And while the show’s creatives were keen to ensure Groff was comfortable with the level of nudity, the actor said, “I just felt like doing it.”

He added, “I enjoy the flirtation between performer and audience, of stripping down and showing a little skin.”