In the modern age of television, it’s very common (and sometimes required) for sets to have intimacy coordinators to help map out sex scenes in a way where everyone is comfortable and on the same page. This is something that has been more common in the post-#MeToo era, and has since been a pretty regular thing on sets (and SNL parodies). But, obviously, this is a relatively new thing that not everyone has experience with, including actress Amanda Seyfried.
Seyfried has been in the business since she was a teenager when intimacy coordinators were practically non-existent. In a new interview with Net-A-Porter, she explains how things were a lot different 20 years ago, and she wishes she was able to have the same on-set advocate that is available now.
“Being 19, walking around without my underwear on – like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen?” the actress said. “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.”
The Dropout star, who played some of the most iconic teenagers in the early 2000s movies (Mean Girls and Jennifer’s Body, just to name a few) said she was still put in some uncomfortable positions when she was just starting out. Though she does say that she came out of the pre-#MeToo era “pretty unscathed.”
According to the SAG-AFTRA protocol guide, an intimacy coordinator’s job is to “Ensure continued consent throughout the filming of scene (both consent to what their likeness is seen performing, and how the action is achieved) while minimizing interference in production flow.”
While it’s a pretty important on-set job, some actors like Sean Bean think the addition is a bit strange. Bean recently made headlines for saying that intimacy coordinators “ruin” the scenes for him. Perhaps he should consider the fact that he’s an established guy and not a young actress just starting out in a room full of strangers!