The True Story Behind Miley Cyrus’ ‘Drive-Away Dolls’ Cameo

Ethan Coen‘s first solo feature film, Drive-Away Dolls, stars Geraldine Viswanathan and Margaret Qualley as two friends on a cross-country road trip who find themselves inadvertently involved in a bizarre criminal plot. Co-written by Coen and his wife Tricia Cooke, this road trip comedy follows Marian (Viswanathan) and Jamie (Qualley) as they travel from Philadelphia to Tallahassee in a drive-away car and discover that the trunk contains not only a frozen head, but a briefcase full of dildos. A psychedelic interlude reveals that these dildos were created by Tiffany Plastercaster, played by Grammy winner Miley Cyrus, and were molded with plaster from the penises of several important men, including conservative Senator Channel (Matt Damon). It’s an outlandish plot point in an already absurd comedy, but Cyrus’ character is actually based on a real woman, Cynthia Plaster Caster, who created dozens of plaster casts of celebrity phalluses throughout her career.

Drive Away Dolls

Jamie regrets her breakup with her girlfriend, while Marian needs to relax. In search of a fresh start, they embark on an unexpected road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals.

Release Date

February 23, 2024

Director

Ethan Coen

Runtime

84 minutes

Who Was Cynthia Plaster Caster?

Cynthia Plaster Caster, born Cynthia Albritton, was an American visual artist and former groupie who made a career creating plaster casts of the erect penises of famous musicians. Born in Chicago in 1947, Albritton first conceived the idea while attending an art class at the University of Illinois where she received an assignment to cast “something solid that could retain its shape.” Her first two casts were of friends Joel Coplon and Al Hernandez, but she soon found her first celebrity client in none other than Jimi Hendrix. Throughout her career, she created plaster casts of the phalluses of 77 men, including Jello Biafra, lead singer of Dead Kennedys, Pete Shelley of the English punk rock band Buzzcocks, and non-musicians like juggler Ivan Karamazov of the Flying Karamazov Brothers and cartoonist Mike Diana. And though he never participated himself, Frank Zappa was also a fan and patron of Albritton’s work.

In 2000, Albritton branched out and began casting female artists’ breasts as well, including Lætitia Sadier of Stereolab, Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and even her own breasts. In 2023, Indiana University’s Kinsey Institute acquired a sizable collection of her work, and before her death, Albritton donated a copy of Hendrix’s plaster cast to the Icelandic Phallological Museum. In 2001, she was the subject of the documentary Plaster Caster directed by Jessica Everleth, and Albritton’s now archaic website contains photographs, a list of castees, and the history of the project, complete with some truly inspired phallic animations.

Miley Cyrus Was Perfectly Cast as Tiffany Plastercaster

The ensemble of Drive-Away Dolls includes supporting roles from Beanie Feldstein, Colman Domingo, and Pedro Pascal, but Cyrus’ cameo came as a surprise, and according to Coen, she was the perfect choice for the role. Cyrus was already knowledgeable about Cynthia Plastercaster before she was offered the role, and, as Coen shared with TheWrap, “That’s her thing, too. She’s into that, both the retro hippie thing and the whole phallus molding thing. Miley loves her dicks.” Aside from her voice-only cameo in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Drive-Away Dolls marks her first on-screen role since she played fictional pop star Ashley O in the Black Mirror episode “Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” in 2019. Among an already star-studded cast, Cyrus’ cameo, and the fact that her character is based on a real person, just adds to the absurdity of Ethan Coen’s first solo feature.

Drive-Away Dolls is now available to rent on VOD.

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