At only age 19, Emmy-nominated actress Amanda Seyfried said she felt pressured to do a nude scene.
“Being 19, walking around without my underwear on — like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen? Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why,” she said in a recent interview with Porter (note: the interview contains some strong language).
This wasn’t the first time Seyfried had uncomfortable encounters because of her career. In an interview earlier this year with Marie Claire, she revealed that boys would come up to her after she starred in “Mean Girls” and ask for a weather forecast — alluding to a line from the movie, in which her character said she could predict the weather with her breasts.
“I always felt really grossed out by that,” she said. “I was like 18 years old. It was just gross.”
After recounting her experiences, Seyfried said that she wishes there had been intimacy coordinators on set when she was young.
What are intimacy coordinators?
According to The Guardian, intimacy coordinators were brought in after the #MeToo movement as staff members who are present on set to ensure safety in on-screen sex scenes.
A broader discussion of intimacy coordinators came up this week, after “Game of Thrones” actor Sean Bean spoke with the London Times and said that intimacy coordinators “can spoil the spontaneity” of shooting these scenes. He then said, “I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.”
What are celebrities saying about intimacy coordinators?
“West Side Story” actress Rachel Zegler took to Twitter to defend having intimacy coordinators on site.
“Intimacy coordinators establish an environment of safety for actors,” she wrote.
The head of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communications and Theatre Union, Philippa Childs, told The Guardian, “Intimacy coordination provides vital support for artists during the preparation, rehearsal and shooting of intimate action and its increasing use is a welcome move to further establish an environment of safety for actors on set.”
According to Deadline, Jameela Jamil, the star of Marvel’s forthcoming “She-Hulk” series, also spoke up in response to Bean’s comments. She said, “It should only be technical. It’s like a stunt. Our job as actors is to make it not look technical. Nobody wants an impromptu grope.”
The Hollywood Reporter published an article detailing the protocols for intimacy coordinators and the certification needed for the job. HBO was one of the first major networks to staff all shows that had sex scenes with intimacy coordinators.