The Importance of Intimacy Coordinators in Film and TV
We’ve had fight choreographers since the early days of film making so why has it taken so long to hire intimacy coordinators?
It is natural for actors to feel nervous when filming a sex scene for a movie. An intimacy coordinator’s role is not only to choreograph a sex scene to make it feel more realistic but to act as an advocate for the actors to ensure that consent is always in place. Many times actors can be pressured into doing certain scenes that they feel uncomfortable with and the introduction of an intimacy coordinator means that a regular chain of communication makes sure that everyone is comfortable on set. They help set boundaries and discuss actors’ consent for certain scenes, relaying to the director when actors don’t consent to certain acts or scenes. Intimacy co-ordinators don’t just work during sex scenes however, they also help portray different forms of intimacy such as physical closeness and kissing in a realistic setting.
Bridgerton fans will remember it for its raw steamy scenes, and Netflix’s Sex Education was praised for showing safe sex and opening much needed discussions for both teenagers and adults alike. Simulated sex in movies however has not always been safe for the actors. Bridgeton’s intimacy coordinator, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Talbot, describes her day on set “We do a lot of work pre-production. We spend so much time in pre-production establishing protocols, establishing closure practices, establishing what we’re looking for in terms of consent, and establishing with actors what they are comfortable (with) and what they’re not comfortable [with]. We want to have all of that established before we get to set.”
Intimacy coordinator, Ita O’Brien, was brought onto the set of I May Destroy You. She has also worked on Normal People and Netflix’s Sex Education and her work on set makes a difference. In I May Destroy you she helped the actors portray a realistic period sex scene, something that is often not shown on screens. In episode three of I May Destroy You, Arabella (Coel) has sex with Biagio (Marouane Zotti) while she’s on her period. Before they begin, they lay out a towel and Biagio pulls out Arabella’s tampon. While this is rarely shown on screen, it is something that many viewers partake in.
Ita O’Brien wants other writers to know that “they can write more realistic intimate content, both in the emotional journeys of our intimate engagement and physically”
Game of Thrones filmed many of their scenes without an intimacy coordinator and since some of their scenes contained sexual assault, they really should have hired an intimacy coordinator. Game of Thrones finished its series around the time the #MeToo movement began, which might be part of the reason. Intimacy coordinators became more commonplace on set.
English actor Gemma Whelan from Game of Thrones discussed her experience and how others were often treated on set.
“They used to just say, ‘When we shout action, go for it!’, and it could be a sort of frenzied mess. But between the actors there was always an instinct to check in with each other. There was a scene in a brothel with a woman and she was so exposed that we talked together about where the camera would be and what she was happy with. A director might say, ‘Bit of boob biting, then slap her bum and go!’, but I’d always talk it through with the other actor.”
Tamzin Merchant, who was initially cast as Daenerys Targaryen, said, “It was an affirmation about listening to my instincts and following them, because I tried to back out of that situation and, during the contract process, I did back out. I was talked back into it by some persuasive people. Then I found myself naked and afraid in Morocco and riding a horse that was clearly much more excited to be there than I was.”
In James Hibberd’s Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series, he interviews Jason Momoa, who was pressured to remove his intimacy pouch – which covers an actor’s genitals during nude scenes – by the showrunners D. B. Weiss and David Benioff.
No one should be pressured into something they don’t want to do. Especially something sexual. The film set doesn’t change that but intimacy coordinators do change the game for the better.
WRITTEN BY
Share This Story
DISCLAIMER: We always aim to credit the original source of every image we include in our content. If you think a credit may be incorrect, please get in touch at marketing@cohorted.co.uk.