Intimacy coordinators have been in the spotlight ever since their creation largely in response to the #MeToo movement in Hollywood circa 2017, and more recently, Academy Award-winning stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Mikey Madison have generated headlines for their stance on whether they wanted to work with one or not.
Florence Pugh has added her nuanced take on the matter, appearing on a new episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast to discuss how she has had both positive and negative experiences collaborating with the below-the-line workers.
“It’s not to get in the way, it’s not to confuse, it’s not to make things more complicated or make things more awkward,” the Thunderbolts* star explained. “It’s simply to make sure that everybody is happy with what they’re creating and also that you’re creating things that have meaning to them.”
The Oscar-nominated Little Women star continued: “I’ve had good ones and bad ones. I did a lot of my sex scenes before that was even a job, and I think I’m quite confident and quite happy in my skin, and I’ve always been able to make sure that I’m heard. That being said … there are plenty of things that I remember where it was just completely inappropriate to have asked me to do that, to have directed me in that way.”
Ultimately, the We Live in Time actress said the relatively new title is still working through its — for lack of a better word — kinks.
“But my view is changing about it as well, because I’m now having fantastic experiences with intimacy coordinators,” she said. “However, that being said, I’ve also had a shit example where someone just made it so weird and so awkward and really wasn’t helpful and kind of was just like wanting to be a part of the set in a way that wasn’t helpful, and I think it’s a job that’s still figuring itself out.”
Speaking about her more fruitful experiences, Pugh said great intimacy coordinators provide an added layer of depth for the project at hand, helping craft the story behind what kind of sex is being explored on screen, how the characters would realistically touch each other and what that would entail depending on the history of the given relationship. All of this, Pugh said, is aided by the usage of safe words, discussions of what’s off limits and having a designated person outside of the costume department who is in charge of coverage.
“When I worked with a fantastic coordinator, I was like: Oh, this is what I’ve been missing, understanding the dance of intimacy, as opposed to just shooting a sex scene,” she concluded.
Next up, Pugh will be seen in Dune: Part Three, reprising her role as Princess Irulan; Avengers: Doomsday, where she will once again portray mercenary/ex-Black Widow assassin Yelena Belova and limited TV series East of Eden, Netflix’s modern interpretation of the classic John Steinbeck novel.
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