Writer-directorSam Levinsonhas garnered a dubious reputation ever sinceEuphoriafirst premiered on HBO in 2019 and became the defining Gen Z teen drama of late,criticized for his objectification of young women. His latest seriesThe Idol, its chaotic production, and provocative sexual content have brought these critiques to light again, especially considering the show makes a mockery of intimacy coordinators in the pilot episode. The profession is written off as intrusive and prohibitive to the artistic process, and though it’s unfair to assume Levinson shares the exact same view as the character who locks the intimacy coordinator in a bathroom, the scene definitely raised some eyebrows. ThoughThe Idolgives them a bad rap, intimacy coordinators have become an increasingly important part of film and television productions, largely in response to sexual harassment and unsafe work environmentsthat have plagued the industry for years.
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What Is an Intimacy Coordinator?
According to SAG-AFTRA’sStandards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinator, an intimacy coordinator acts as “a liaison between actors and production, and a movement coach and/or choreographer in regards to nudity and simulated sex and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.” They meet with the producers, director, and performers involved to discuss the details of the nude or simulated sex scenes, choreograph and rehearse specific movements for intimate scenes, and ensure the continued consent and safety of the actors while shooting. Like stunt coordinators who work to ensure the safety of performers doing potentially dangerous stunts, intimacy coordinators do the same for scenes involving nudity, simulated sex, and sexual violence.
Performers Have Been Victimized by Filming Nude Scenes
Intimacy coordinators have been commonplace in live theater spaces for years, but there was a significant uptick in the employment of intimacy coordinators for film and televisionin response to the #MeToo movement, which gained worldwide attention following the exposure ofHarvey Weinstein’s career-long history of sexual assault allegationsfrom women across the entertainment industry. A plethora of actresses has come forward detailing not only the abuse they suffered from Weinstein but the exploitation and trauma they experienced filming nude or intimate scenes in general.In her 2017 essay for The New York Times, actressSalma Hayekdescribed the nightmarish production ofFrida, her passion project about the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Not only did Weinstein berate, threaten, and repeatedly sexually harass her, but also forced her to include a sex scene with another woman inFrida, demanding full-frontal nudity, which led to Hayek having a nervous breakdown on set.
Along with Hayek, actresses likeSharon Stone,Jennifer Lawrence,Léa Seydoux, andMaria Schneider(among many others) have all spoken up about negative experiences with nudity and intimate scenes. In a2019 speech at the GQ awards, Stone revealed that directorPaul Verhoevenhad her remove her underwear for the iconic leg cross scene inBasic Instinct,but insisted nothing would be shown. In a speech for Elle’sWomen in Hollywood event in 2017, Lawrence described the “degrading and humiliating” experience of being made to stand in a nude line-up in front of producers early on in her career, who then pressured her to lose weight.
Following the success ofBlue Is the Warmest Colour,Seydoux said inan interview with The Independentthat she felt “like a prostitute” filming the lengthy and graphic sex scenes for hours at a time, and stated she would not work with directorAbdellatif Kechicheagain. In a2007 interview with Daily Mail, Schneider detailed her traumatizing experience filming a sexual assault scene in Bernardo Bertolucci’sThe Last Tango in Parisat just 19 years old, stating that “[she] felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon [Brando] and by Bertolucci.”
Game of Throneshas faced a host of criticisms not only regarding the show’s gratuitous nudity and depictions of sexual violence but also from some of the actors themselves, who described feeling uncomfortable on set during the shooting of nude and intimate scenes. In a2021 interview with The Guardian,Gemma Whelandescribed the experience of shooting nude and simulated sex scenes as a “frenzied mess” without an intimacy coordinator, and with little direction, left the actors to coordinate the scenes themselves.Emilia Clarkehas also detailed her"terrifying" experience filming some of the show’s nude scenesand being pressured on set to perform nude so as to not “disappointGame of Thronesfans.” Clarke landed the role of Daenerys Targaryen at 23 years old and had little on-set experience prior toGame of Thrones, and has credited her co-starJason Momoaas the person who protected and advocated for her while shooting their intimate scenes together.
How the #MeToo Movement Changed Industry Practices
The filming of nude and simulated sex scenes had for a long time gone unregulated, leading to the exploitation of female performers in particular who, in a male-dominated industry rife with misogyny, felt they had no power to speak up or set boundaries over their own bodies. The second season of HBO’sThe Deucewas the first series to announce its employment of an intimacy coordinator, which would later becomestandard practice for all the network’s movies and shows involving nude and/or intimate scenes.
British Intimacy coordinatorIta O’Brienis one of the pioneers of the profession, developing safe practices for the filming of nude and intimate scenes since 2014 and publishing the"Intimacy On Set Guidelines"in 2017. She has since worked as the intimacy coordinator for shows likeNormal People,I May Destroy You,andSex Education, the first Netflix series to employ one.Intimacy Directors Internationalwas founded in 2016 byTonia Sina,Siobhan Richardson, andAlicia Rodis(Rodis would later go on to serve as HBO’s in-house intimacy coordinator). They had all experienced or witnessed firsthand inappropriate on-set behavior in scenes involving physical touch and sought to implement guidelines and procedures prioritizing consent and the physical and mental well-being of performers. The organization now offers intimacy coordination workshops and hosts a sizable database of intimacy professionals of all genders in the United States and worldwide.
Why ‘The Idol’ Scene Matters
Of all the criticismsThe Idolhas faced, the scene mocking intimacy coordinators doesn’t rank very high on the list but still sends mixed messages about this important and increasingly prevalent profession. Intimacy coordinators were employed for bothThe IdolandEuphoria,but even others in the profession took umbrage with the scene, such asMarci Liroff, whoin an interview with Variety, said she “felt really betrayed that they were making fun of us and the job. They were using us as the butt of the joke.” Even so, Liroff went on to say that the attitude Jocelyn’s (Lily-Rose Depp) manager had towards the intimacy coordinator is similar to the pushback she has received on the job from directors or producers who don’t entirely understand the profession. So while the scene in the pilot episodedoesn’t reflect too well on Levinson or co-creatorAbel Tesfaye, who have borne the brunt of the backlash throughout the show’s promotional cycle, it does give viewers an early look into the way Jocelyn’s team disregards her potential discomfort for the sake of a photoshoot.
This may have been the first introduction to the profession of intimacy direction for many viewers, and despite the mockery that’s made of it for the sake of the narrative, it’s not something that should be treated with flippancy. Intimacy coordinators being present on more and more sets is a step in the right direction in protecting performers from potential trauma and exploitation, especially in telling stories involving sexual violence.Michaela Coelsaid it best in her2021 BAFTA acceptance speechfor Leading Actress for her limited seriesI May Destroy You. She dedicated the award to the show’s intimacy coordinator, the aforementioned Ita O’Brien, saying, “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… Your direction was essential to my show and I believe essential for every production company that wants to make work exploring themes of consent.”
