Actor Steve Carell truly suffered for his art while filming his new hit comedy THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN - by waxing his hairy body as film cameras rolled.

Carell is seen cursing and pained in the movie as a lady waxes his hairy torso as his virginal character attempts to make himself more desirable to the opposite sex.

And Carell, star of the US adaptation of hit UK series The Office, has come to the firm conclusion that he'll never put himself through such a procedure again.

He says, "I embrace the hair suit. Society today looks to a smoother (chest). Let's face facts: men are much more girlie these days and they like the smooth, waxed, oiled up look. That's not what I'm about. You know the chart of the evolution of the man, and he's way hunched over? I'm about the fourth (man) in!

"That (scene) was all real. You can actually see blood beating to the surface of the skin. Next time I'm going downtown, if you know what I'm talking about... the full Brazilian!

"It was so painful; I highly doubt I would ever touch any sort of hair on my body again apart from shaving my face. You know when you burn yourself on something in the kitchen and there is that two second lapse before the pain actually registers in your brain? It was definitely the same with the chest waxing.

"The women in the crew were much more empathetic about what was about to happen to me than the men were. They were offering me Advil, and telling me to perhaps clip my chest hairs down a little bit more to reduce the pain and the pulling. I wanted it to hurt as much as humanly possible and it did."