Now it can be revealed: A crucial scene in the Lonely Island’s film Popstar, in which former Style Boyz Conner and Lawrence hold a tense reunion while a fan presses his penis against their limousine window, was paid for by the Lonely Island guys themselves.

The film’s co-director, Akiva Schaffer, shared the detail in a Q&A with Oscar-winning director and Lonely Island fan Daniel Scheinert, half of the directing duo The Daniels. Popstar follows Andy Samberg as connor4real, a cocky pop star who has left behind his partners in the pop trio Style Boys. They’re played by Samberg’s Lonely Island partners, Schaffer and Taccone, the other director Popstar.

The Q&A, released this week on The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, was recorded in April for a 10th anniversary screening of Popstar (the full title of which is Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping) a comic masterpiece detailing conner4real’s rise, fall, and rise.

At a crucual point in the film, Taccone’s character, Owen, stages a reunion between Conner and Schaffer’s character, Lawrence, in the back of a limousine. Samberg and Schaffer play the scene as a serious drama, even as a fan’s penis vies for their attention.

Akiva Schaffer on the Origins of the Popstar Penis Scene

The Popstar penis scene, safe for work version.

As silly as the Popstar penis scene is, Schaffer explained that it played an important part in making the film work overall.

Every week on the The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast, the Lonely Island guys and Meyers revisit the creative process behind one of their works, including hits like “D— in a Box,” “I Just Had Sex,” and “Lazy Sunday.” They also talk about projects that didn’t turn out as well as they hoped.

Popstar was a box office disappointment, but has passionate fans who appreciate such smart-stupid gems as “Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)” and “Legalize It.” It’s also a magnificent time capsule of 2010s pop trends, with stars like Pink and Akon stopping in.

Schaffer told Scheinert that as he, Samberg and Taccone watched early cuts of the film, there was a sense that its energy was dipping near the middle. So they went to their producer, Judd Apatow, for advice.

“And Judd was the one that was like, ‘I think at that moment the audience just wants to see you guys together — like, deal with the central relationship in this movie a little bit.”

So, four or five months after they wrapped production on the main shoot, they paid for a new scene, featuring the limo and comic-relief penis.

“We were like, ‘Well, we could do it a limo, and [have] like 20 extras just crowd around it,” Schaffer said. “We knew from test screenings that the crazier the movie got, the more the audience liked it, which is what gave us the courage to make it that crazy. I don’t think we would have written that into the original script and had the guts to do it.”

Scheinert interjected: “I love the idea of you telling the studio, ‘We’ve got a scene we just have to shoot.”

Schaffer replied: “Since I’m being very honest right now, we paid for it. Because we were out of money, and we wanted the movie to be good, and so us and Judd chipped in.”

Casting the penis actor made his emails “a scary place,” Schaffer joked, as his inbox was flooded with pictures. But he took the process seriously, to make sure the film found exactly the right penis.

“It can’t feel like a joke on top of the joke,” Schaffer said.

“The joke isn’t that it’s a weird dick,” noted Scheinert. “The joke is just that it’s a dick.”

That led to a good bit that you can listen to in the full podcast, if you like. The whole episode is well worth a listen.

Main image: Andy Samberg as Conner and Akiva Schaffer as Lawrence have a tense reunion in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. Universal Pictures.