Yahoo Lifestyle 14 Famous People Who've Talked About Why The Prefer (Or Prefer Not) To Work With Intimacy Coordinators
Some examples include mention of sexual assault.
Within recent years, more and more TV shows and movies have begun employing intimacy coordinators, who are trained to work with directors, choreographers, and actors while planning out sex scenes. This way, every actor's well-being and comfort level is at the forefront and they can have safer on-set experiences.
And while many actors are extremely grateful for these dedicated advisors, there are still some actors who prefer to go without one.
Here are 14 celebs who've spoken pretty candidly about their thoughts on intimacy coordinators:
1.After not working with an intimacy coordinator for several seasons of Outlander, Sam Heughan brought one on board for Season 7 of the series. "It’s important that everyone is protected, but also we find a way to explore these scenes and actually maybe get something more out of them," he said.
Vanessa Coffey is now the show's intimacy advisor. Sam told the Happy Sad Confused podcast, “We really didn’t know what we were doing [when the show began]. We were thrown in the deep end and had to learn through the experience, so I think it’s been really great to bring Vanessa on board to help younger actors with less experience.”
He added, “I think this season we’ve done an even better job with those types of scenes because she really helped us understand what we are doing and how we build up this relationship and take it somewhere else, so she’s been terrific.”
2.Jennifer Aniston said that she was asked if she wanted an intimacy coordinator for her and Jon Hamm's sex scene in The Morning Show but said no. "They asked us if we wanted an intimacy coordinator. I’m from the olden days, so I was like, 'What does that mean?'" she explained.
She continued, "They said, 'Where someone asks you if you’re OK,' and I’m like, 'Please, this is awkward enough!' We’re seasoned — we can figure this one out." She added that the scene itself was "very choreographed" and between every cut, Jon would ask Jennifer "You OK?" just to make sure she didn't feel uncomfortable.
3.Taylor Zakhar Perez said that for Red, White, and Royal Blue he and Nicholas Galitzine would have "an hour a day set aside" to work with their intimacy coordinator, Robbie King. He added that practicing the scenes felt like dancing.
"It was just like a dance,” he told Glamour. “I grew up in theater, and Nick's done musicals. We're both very musical people. So Robbie found it easiest to talk to us in musical terms — there's a musicality to intimacy. There'd be lots of counting. Like, ‘1, 2, 3, 4, grab. 2, 3, 4, squeeze.’ That's what was going through my mind as we did it, to get it in your body. Once your body remembers it, you can let it go. The muscle memory is so strong. Then it's just about getting your mind in the game.”
4.Katherine Heigl explained that she was hesitant to work with an intimacy coordinator at first because she'd never worked with one prior to starring on Firefly Lane. But her experience ended up making her realize how "unprotected" she was while filming without one for years.
“I was like, ‘I’m an old Hollywood broad, bitch. I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to tell me how to make out on camera.' I was so awkward about it.” she recalled. “I ended up loving this woman so deeply, and being so grateful for her, because she protected us in a way that I didn’t realize how unprotected we were. I didn’t even really quite realize having somebody else stand there and say, ‘She won’t do that, find another way to shoot it.'”
“We did have young girls on the set. There was a rape scene. And for her to be there protecting them, I felt this weight off of me in a way that I didn’t feel like I had to find a way to fight those battles for these girls,” she added. “I’m always the bad guy. People like me to be the bad guy.”
5.India Amarteifio said that while working with an intimacy coordinator for Queen Charlotte, she felt like she was actually in a "safe space."
"They created such a safe space and making us feel as if we actually had a say in some of these scenes. You walk into a room sometimes, and it’s one thing to say, ‘Yeah, you can you can speak freely.’ It’s another thing of actually feeling that,” she explained. “Everything is in there for a reason. It’s a testament to our team and to Shonda [Rhimes], everyone being just genuine, lovely people and remembering that this is a show and it’s for storyline. We don’t put things in just for the sake of it.”
6.Jonathan Bailey worked with one on Bridgerton and explained some of the tricks used, like strategically placed "half-inflated netballs" that allow for movement, but keep the actors from physically touching.
“It’s amazing how that whole industry has just come on, even in a year. There are new tricks to the trade – little cushions – and it’s amazing what you can do with a half-inflated netball,” he said. “If there are two people doing a sex scene, the rule is they must have three barriers separating them and there are certain acts where a half-inflated netball can allow for movement without having to connect physically. It’s pretty silly really and we have some hilarious moments, but it makes it less awkward.”
7.Phoebe Dynevor also worked with an intimacy coordinator in Bridgerton and explained that those "vulnerable" scenes were filmed "like stunts." She said that because they were so choreographed, she felt "safe." She added that if she hadn't worked with Lizzy Talbot, the series' coordinator, she would've had to work through those scenes with a male director: "No one wants to be told how to perform orgasm [on set] by a man."
“You feel very vulnerable in those scenes. We did the intimate scenes like stunts — we blocked them out, so you have yoga balls in between you and all sorts of things that never make you feel exposed in any way,” she explained. “You always feel safe. I'd rehearse with Regé-[Jean Page] so much that we both knew what we were doing. It felt very practical.”
She added, “If we didn't have an intimacy coordinator, it would be our director, who was a male, coming up to me and telling me what to do. That would have been awkward. I felt so safe in the knowledge that Lizzy [Talbot] was there, so that if something went wrong or the director wanted something different he could speak to her first. I think it would have been a very difficult experience if Lizzy hadn't been on set protecting me and looking after me. No one wants to be told how to perform orgasm [on set] by a man.”
8.When Michaela Coel won a BAFTA for her performance in the series I May Destroy You she thanked intimacy coordinators for "creating physical, emotional, and professional boundaries."
“Thank you for your existence in our industry, for making the space safe, for creating physical, emotional and professional boundaries so that we can make work about exploitation, loss of respect, about abuse of power without being exploited or abused in the process,” she said. “I know what it’s like to shoot without an intimacy director. The messy, embarrassing feeling for the crew, the internal devastation for the actor. Your direction was essential in the show, and I believe essential for every production company that wants to make works exploring the themes of consent.”
9.Sydney Sweeney first worked with an intimacy coordinator for Euphoria and said that it "changed [her] approach to everything." She loved working with her coordinator so much, that she brought her onto another one of her projects.
“I had my first intimacy coordinator on Euphoria, and it changed my approach to everything,” she explained. “I love having one and I think they should be considered a necessity on every set. I actually brought my intimacy coordinator, Amanda Blumenthal, onto my Amazon movie, The Voyeurs. I wish that more productions were aware of this and we made it a priority.”
10.Sean Bean said he feels like the presence of an intimacy coordinator would "spoil the spontaneity" of a sex scene. He added that it ruins "the natural way lovers behave."
![He said, “It would inhibit me more because it’s drawing attention to things. Somebody saying, ‘Do this, put your hand there, while you touch his thing.’ I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.”“[I] should imagine it slows down the thrust of it,” he added. “Ha, not the thrust, that’s the wrong word. It would spoil the spontaneity. ... I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/SOo1NmIerR.ccL72MUoN1w--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/buzzfeed_articles_778/95b6255208cedd4f704adcf31e22dd63)
He said, “It would inhibit me more because it’s drawing attention to things. Somebody saying, ‘Do this, put your hand there, while you touch his thing.’ I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.”
“[I] should imagine it slows down the thrust of it,” he added. “Ha, not the thrust, that’s the wrong word. It would spoil the spontaneity. ... I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise."
11.Emma Thompson, who worked closely with one on Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, said that “intimacy coordinators are fantastically important.”
When asked about the comments made by Sean Bean, Emma said, “I don’t know [if] you were speaking to somebody who found it distracting, but another conversation you might find [is] that people go, ‘It made me comfortable. It made me feel safe. It made me feel as though I was able to do this work.'”
She added that these scenes cannot just "flow" because the environment is extremely different than if it were people in the privacy of their own home. “No, you can’t just let it flow," she said. "The crew is — [you’re] not on your own in a hotel room. You’re being hounded by a bunch of blokes … carrying things. So I don’t know who the actor was, but maybe he had an intimacy coordinator accidentally at home.”
12.Rachel Zegler said that she was "extremely grateful" for the intimacy coordinator she worked with on West Side Story. In response to Sean Bean's claims, she stressed the importance of these coordinators and said, "spontaneity in intimate scenes can be dangerous."
"Intimacy coordinators establish an environment of safety for actors," she tweeted. "I was extremely grateful for the one we had on WSS — they showed grace to a newcomer like myself + educated those around me who’ve had years of experience. Spontaneity in intimate scenes can be unsafe. Wake up."
13.Rahul Kohli also sung his praises of all the coordinators he worked with saying that they are "essential for protecting [actors'] safety."
“I’ve worked with a few intimacy coordinators now, and while ever so slightly embarrassing at first, are essential for protecting our safety, making us comfortable, and opening up constructive dialogue between the actors and director when scenes call for ‘intimacy,'” he tweeted.
He also said, "(And to any young actors out there reading this: Don’t do ANYTHING you’re uncomfortable doing. Being committed & giving your all to a job is admiral, but not at the expense of your mental health. Create boundaries. And fuck anyone that thinks differently of you for voicing them)".
14.Daisy Edgar Jones worked with an intimacy coordinator while filming Normal People and said that the scenes they shot were so "passionate" because they had someone there to help them feel "relaxed" and protected.
“You need more protection because it is a stunt, with physical maneuvers that you need to make look realistic — just like in a fight scene,” she explained. “Mentally, it’s a really vulnerable place to put yourself in. You need to feel like you have the control and agency in those moments so that you can feel relaxed and give a better performance. If we didn’t have Ita, those scenes wouldn’t be nearly as passionate. Paul [Mescal] and I could always speak up if we wanted to.”
