The Objects of Assfection

Since then, anticipating just what the heck Rush will shove up someone’s ass next has become a source of fun for fans—and a creative challenge for the artist.

“It took other people pointing it out before I realized I’d developed a signature. When I’m making the films, I’m thinking about characters, performances and shots, all at the same time. Then people started mentioning the objects specifically, and suddenly I realized I’d created this fun little recurring ‘theme,’” he says. 

“There is definitely some pressure to top myself, but I try not to let it become a competitive sport. Bigger isn’t automatically funnier or more dramatic. The moment I’m putting something into a movie purely because people expect ‘The Ben Rush object,’ it stops working. It still has to belong in that particular world. I’d rather surprise people than just escalate an expectation.”

Rush explains that the inspiration comes much more from his sense of humor and love of visual storytelling than any rowdy real-life escapades. 

“I like taking something completely ordinary and changing the way the viewer sees it. There’s something naturally funny about an innocent household object suddenly becoming the star of an adult movie. It’s that melding of the mundane and the outrageous that appeals to me,” he says. “And, once I discovered how much audiences responded to those moments, I started having more fun with them. Now I can walk through a kitchen or hardware store and think, ‘Well, that has cinematic potential.’ Frankly, it’s ruined shopping for me.”

But it’s not just the audience response he cares about.

“The performers’ reactions are often hilarious, because I’ll explain what I’m imagining, and there’ll be that moment where someone looks at me like, ‘Of course this is what you’ve come up with.’ But these things must be conversations. I don’t believe in surprising somebody once the cameras are rolling with something they haven’t agreed to.”

They discuss what the scene involves, what everyone is comfortable with, and whether the idea is actually workable. 

“And yes, people can absolutely say ‘no.’ A fun idea is never worth making somebody uncomfortable,” the director says. “Frequently, the performer’s reaction actually improves the idea because they understand their own limits and what will work on camera better than anyone else. Consent is not an obstacle to creativity; it’s part of making the scene work.”

Rush now reflects on the most infamous objects of his assfection—a dirty (baker’s) dozen of derrière delights…

1. Rosary

“I’m pretty sure this is what they mean by a ‘religious experience,’” he says. “Some props arrive on set carrying centuries of baggage. My job is to add one more thing to confess.”

The most recent object in Rush’s library is arguably his most provocative. In Eat the Rich, priest Derek Kage has a tryst with escort Luca Zae. 

“It was meant to be controversial and shocking,” Kage says. “I honestly feel when we as a society look back on our current time and think of the ills that lead to it, we will realize that conservatives, evangelical Christians, closeted politicians, and complacent Catholics played a massive role. Ben holds a mirror up to them as if to say, ‘You’re not fooling anyone.’”

2. Family Values Award

“I finally found a use for conservative philosophies!” the director laughs. “The trophy already had a great deal of symbolism, so all I really had to do was give the award a more memorable acceptance speech.”

Also in Eat the Rich, a corrupt and closeted politician played by Paul Wagner—who supports “traditional” marriage platforms—gets a taste of his own medicine as Jayden Marcos literally fucks the establishment. 

“It sums Ben up perfectly,” Wagner says. “There’s something really subversive about taking this seemingly earnest symbol of respectability and turning it into something totally different. The joke is that nobody gets to own the idea of family. Ben creates these mad, joyful sets where people look after each other, laugh together, and become their own kind of family. So the trophy ends up being ridiculous, filthy and oddly heartfelt all at once—which is pretty much Ben in a nutshell.”

3. Pool Noodle

“It was huge, bendy and fundamentally undignified. I would call it the Meryl Streep of inappropriate porn props. The pool noodle may be the purest expression of my filmmaking philosophy. It’s brightly colored, it’s ridiculous, and everyone recognizes it. Nobody sees one at a swimming pool and thinks it has dramatic potential. And then I arrive,” Rush laughs.

“There’s something so unserious about a pool noodle that it becomes funny before anything even happens. You put it in the frame, and the audience already knows we’ve abandoned dignity. At that point, I’ve already sprinkled the pixie dust. If there’s ever a retrospective of my career, I hope the pool noodle gets top billing.”

In the first installment of the Bred & Breakfast series, Isaac X gets impaled by more than Colton Reece’s manhood.

“My favorite part about working on The Come Inn was spending time with the crew. I loved working with Ben. The script was well-written, a lot of fun, and amazing,” Isaac X recalls. “This scene specifically was very special…I’ve never thought about sticking one of those things inside of me.”

4. Swirled Lollipop

“The lollipop was my gateway drug to inappropriate props,” Rush says. “It was playful and silly on camera—and unfortunately taught me that virtually anything can become a recurring gag if you commit hard enough.”

It all started so simple and sweet in Rush’s first film (What’s Gotten Into Him?), when Dante Colle walks in on his partner, Colby Tucker, having some sweet treats in bed. The rest is history.

5. Candy Cane Double Feature

Rush was in a festive mood in Cumming Home For Christmas, when Taylor Reign couldn’t say no to hunky bakery owner Cade Maddox—who had two oversized canes to work with.

“The ridiculous size of the item sold it,” Rush says. “A regular candy cane says ‘Christmas,’ while this one says, ‘Christmas has made some questionable decisions.’”

The director revisited the motif last December in Bred & Breakfast: The Push It Inn, when a glass candy cane found its way from Sir Peter’s hands to Derek Kage’s behind. 

“This one required considerably more movie magic than bravado. Glass and improvisation are not natural scene partners, but Sir Peter and Derek are pros.”

6. Hanukkah Candle

“The holiday context gave me the setup immediately,” Rush recalls. “After that, my main responsibility was making sure nobody had to explain this scene to their rabbis.”

The director was feeling extra festive in Bred & Breakfast: The Push It Inn, and now it was Paul Wagner doing the giving and Sir Peter submitting.

“On his sets, everyday objects can suddenly become something completely unexpected. But what makes it work is the trust he builds with performers and crew. He creates an environment where people feel safe, comfortable, and excited to try something different. Somehow, it always pays off,” Peter says.

“The candle scene happened largely because Ben knows exactly which buttons to push. He knows what he can suggest, how far he can challenge you, and when you’re willing to go along with it. And with Ben, I won’t give him the opportunity to ever hear him say, ‘Oh, if only you had…’”

Adds Wagner: “Only Ben Rush could look at a Hanukkah candle and think, ‘I can work with that.’ That’s part of what makes shooting with him memorable. Ordinary objects suddenly become part of these wild scenarios. I remember seeing the candle and thinking I had a fairly good idea where the scene was going, not to mention where the candle was going. Sir Peter definitely had an idea.”

7. Churro

“I like a prop I can expense as craft services,” Rush shares. “Soft, ridiculous, and covered in sugar. It is probably the only item on this list that doubles as a dessert even before it goes up a beautifully tasty butthole.”

The end of The Way to a Man’s Heart is extra sweet, especially when Heath Halo, Rocky Unleashed and Ian Sterling find a way to dip their homemade pastries inside each other.

8. Apple

Red for the red! Rush stays sweet in The Way to a Man’s Heart, where ginger stud Tim James proves that red heads taste sweeter by allowing blond Brogan to shove an apple (Red Delicious, natch) into his peach and taste the difference for himself.

“Eve had the right idea, but she lacked ambition. Sadly, Adam was on the losing end of that,” Rush laughs. “The apple is so wholesome and familiar that the moment it stops being just a piece of fruit, the joke writes itself.”

9. Wooden Spoon

We stay in the culinary world, but things start to get a little…harder. The threeway finale of Bred & Breakfast: All The Way Inn finds Hazel Hoffman on a kitchen countertop getting fucked with a wooden spoon—not to mention two dicks at the same time (thank you, Sean Xavier and Heath Halo).

“Everyone I worked with was really sweet,” Hoffman reflects. “The wooden spoon was a moment, for sure. It was so funny. I don’t know that I’d put a wooden spoon there again, but, you know…we tried it. We did it, and we made soup with it after, so…”

10. Flashlight

Lest you think Rush was getting too “soft” with all the food, 2026 GayVN Best Feature winner Wild Game got extra wild in its third scene. Blain O’Connor hunts down an innocent-looking Miles Fallon, throws him down on a dirty mattress, and rams a huge flashlight all the way inside the furry otter. 

“Apparently, you can determine my mood by whichever aisle I’ve been shopping in that week. But honestly, the appearance of something can be much more intimidating than what is actually happening during production,” Rush explains. “We think about the material, shape, practicalities and what the performer is comfortable doing. Nobody gets extra credit because something looks more alarming.”

He does love the contrast, though. 

“A churro is inherently ridiculous and cheerful…and, let’s face it, delicious. A flashlight makes the audience wonder what kind of movie they wandered into. They create completely different reactions, which is part of the fun. Some days you want pastry. Some days you want hardware.”

While most directors become obsessed with lighting, Rush admits he may have misunderstood the assignment. 

“The dead-serious practicality of it made it erotic and dirty. Nothing says ‘rough sex’ like including something that takes four D batteries. Let’s just say that Miles radiated light from within.”

11. Soda Bottle

Tongue in Cheek finds André Bedford bent over the edge of a beautiful Los Angeles pool while Danny Starr pushes a glass soda bottle in and out of his ass. 

“I really wanted to answer the question I often get from food servers: ‘Is Pepsi okay?’” Rush laughs. “I loved that the soda bottle was completely mundane. It seems that all an everyday object needs to become more interesting is one questionable career decision.”

12. Socket Wrench

“Some directors have a signature lens. I have a toolbox. The socket wrench had exactly the industrial, completely unromantic look I wanted for Tongue in Cheek. It’s the kind of prop that makes you weigh whether you should call a plumber…or Derek Kage.”

As much as Kage has been on the receiving end of Rush’s machinations, he got his start doing the giving. Mechanic Greg Dixxon loves to get his wheels—and ass—greased by his handsome customer. 

“I think Ben is thrilled to know his trademark is rectal insertion of an object that correlates to the scene,” Kage says. “They create a striking visual impact and can also be used in trailers to drum up some buzz for the movie.”

A Cigar is Just a Cigar?

With Eat the Rich, Rush (ahem) probes harder than he ever has before—and has raised the bar for himself. The film gave the director an opportunity to make the objects part of the actual language of the story rather than simply a recurring gag. 

“When something can operate simultaneously as a spectacle and as a metaphor, that’s much more interesting to me. I don’t want every prop to require a whole dissertation,” he says. “Sometimes, a churro should just be a churro. But when the story gives me an opportunity to make one of these moments say something about class, power, excess or whatever else the film is exploring, I’m absolutely interested in pushing that further. Ideally, the audience can get off first and realize what we were saying afterwards.”

It all begs the question…what’s next? (No, we don’t know that it’s a cigar…)

“I don’t want to give away the list because half the fun is having the audience suddenly recognize an innocent object and think, ‘Oh no, Ben…’” Rush says. “I’m increasingly attracted to objects that make narrative sense first and become outrageous second. The fun isn’t finding something bigger or stranger. It’s finding the one object that could only appear in that movie. So I’m not revealing what’s on the list. But I will say I can no longer walk through IKEA like a normal person. And, quite frankly, neither should anyone who watches my films.”