‘In the ’80s We Were Comfortable That Way’

In the past 10 years or so, intimacy coordinators have become a go-to role in film sets where love scenes are being filmed. The urgency of having them on set greatly increased in the wake of the #MeToo movement that rocked Hollywood in late 2017. But some who’ve been working in the industry for quite some time have been skeptical of their utility. Sean Bean, for one, said that he thought intimacy coordinators ruined the “spontaneity” and “chemistry” between actors.

Now Richard Gere has joined their ranks. In an interview with The Wrap about the Paramount+ spy series “The Agency,” Gere spoke alongside his fellow actors on the show Michael Fassbender, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Jeffrey Wright. Fassbender and Turner-Smith play lovers, and both actors strongly endorsed the role of their intimacy coordinator on set.

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Fassbender said, “A lot of the time, directors won’t say what they want you to do and you’re left to your own devices. But it’s kind of like doing a fight sequence now. It’s like, ‘OK, are you comfortable with me touching your breast or ass?’ Or whatever it is. The guidelines are down and then you can shoot super fast.” To that, Turner-Smith added that intimacy coordinators “should just be there for [actors], like a stunt coordinator. You would not do an unrehearsed stunt.”

The Wrap’s interviewer Steve Pond then noted to Gere how different this approach is from when the actor was in a number of steamy movies such as “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “American Gigolo.”

“I don’t think it would have worked then, to tell you the truth,” Gere said, noting that he’s never had Fassbender’s experience with directors who give no more direction for sex scenes than “Off you go, guys.” Fassbender also said that he had never felt comfortable discussing the choreography of sex scenes with his scene partner beforehand, and that having the intermediary of the intimacy coordinator helps.

“See, in the ’80s we were comfortable that way,” Gere then said, about discussing the mechanics of a sex scene with the actor you’re having the scene with.

It’s an intriguing moment in the interview, and it speaks greatly to how things have changed on set in the past decade. That said, there are still some rising actors who have elected to go without intimacy coordinators. Mikey Madison caused a stir by refusing a intimacy coordinator for her many sex scenes in “Anora.”

“I was always comfortable, and I also think because Ani was too,” Madison said last fall to The New York Times. “To me it was never a thought in my head to be nervous or anything.”

Her director, Sean Baker, said that he feels intimacy coordinators should be there on a case-by-case basis. Famously, for “Anora,” he and his wife Samantha Quan acted out the intimate scenes in question for Madison and her scene partners in the best picture winning film before the cameras started rolling.

For Gere’s part, he has an echo in Michael Douglas, who has said he thinks intimacy coordinators on set are another way to “take control away from filmmakers.” Meanwhile, Kim Basinger said, “I can’t imagine having somebody come up to me and say, ‘Do you mind if they put their hand here?’” And director Mia Hansen-Love suggested intimacy coordinators are “virtue police.” On the other hand, Michelle Williams found the experience of working with one to be “extremely worthwhile.”

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