Jesse Heiman Says He Kissed A Doll To Prepare For That Iconic GoDaddy 2013 Super Bowl Commercial

Jesse Heiman has built a career for himself as a professional extra. Heiman made his first on-screen appearance in "American Pie 2" in 2001 and has worked at a steady clip since, working with the likes of David Fincher, Michael Bay, and Steven Spielberg – albeit in a limited capacity. "I have a great track record with big directors," Heiman told The Guardian. "They always want to put me right center."

Over the course of his more than 100 on-screen appearances, Heiman has portrayed roles as varied as Spectator at School Fight in "Spider-Man" to Beer Bong Student in "Joan of Arcadia" to Winking Comic Book Nerd in "The O.C." Heiman has leaned into his being typecast as a prototypical nerd, even appearing in five episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" (via IMDb). However, one of Heiman's most iconic TV appearances was his part in a GoDaddy Super Bowl commercial in 2013. 

In 2013, Jesse Heiman secured his most prominent role to date for the most-watched event of the year: Super Bowl XLVII. In the commercial, race car driver Danica Patrick introduces the two sides of the popular web hosting company: the sexy side (Bar Refaeli) and the intelligent, tech-savvy side (Heiman). The pair, considered a "Perfect Match," then spends roughly fifteen seconds swapping spit.

"In the original breakdown [for casting], they said you have to be ok with kissing Bar Refaeli, a supermodel, in the Super Bowl," Heiman told Insider. "And I was like, is this a question? If someone's opposed to that, then he should get out of the business." Despite eagerly accepting the role, Heiman had to prepare before the makeout session began, and his first scene partner didn't exactly reciprocate. "They had me audition with a bunch of people, and in the first audition, they had us kissing a blow-up doll," said Heiman. "And the doll had a name: Lindsay Lohan. Yeah, it was a good time." Heiman also rehearsed with a stand-in for Refaeli.

When it came to shooting the commercial, Heiman and Refaeli were consummate professionals, doing between 45 and 65 takes, by Heiman's estimation, to capture varying levels of raunchiness. "It's sort of a different type of shoot than her walking on a beach or me doing an office scene or being a nerd on the show," said Heiman, "but it was still a set. It's important as an actor to stay professional for these kind of things."