Michael Caine has become the latest actor to comment on the use of intimacy coordinators on film sets, suggesting they interfere with scenes.
Summary
- Intimacy coordinators are a newer role in Hollywood, responsible for choreographing and executing intimate scenes while ensuring actors feel safe and boundaries are respected. They have been introduced to major productions.
- Michael Caine questions the need for intimacy coordinators, saying that the industry never had them in his day. He implies that they interfere with scenes and expresses relief that he doesn’t play lovers anymore.
- Caine’s viewpoint reflects a misunderstanding of the importance of intimacy coordination in promoting actor safety. Many prominent voices still downplay the need for such measures, but the demand for intimacy coordinators is growing.
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Actor Michael Caine questions the need for intimacy coordinators on sets. The role of intimacy coordinator is a newer title in Hollywood, referring to the person who helps to choreograph and execute intimate scenes, which can involve sex, kissing, or other in-the-nude moments. Intimacy coordinators are responsible for making actors feel safe and encouraging consent on sets, and they work with directors and producers to ensure these boundaries are respected. They have been famously introduced to major productions, including House of the Dragon and Sex Education.
Caine has a different take on the field of intimacy coordination. Speaking with The Daily Mail, the 90-year-old actor shares a rather negative view on the position and says that the entertainment industry “never had that in my day.” Check out the full quote from Caine below:
Really? Seriously? What are they? We never had that in my day. Thank god I’m 90 and don’t play lovers anymore is all I can say. In my day you just did the love scene and got on with it without anyone interfering. It’s all changed.
Intimacy Coordination In Hollywood Has Often Been Misunderstood
Caine is right in saying that it has “all changed” for Hollywood’s understanding of intimate scenes. Sex Education, for example, became the first Netflix show to employ an intimacy coordinator, which was in 2019. While intimacy coordination is still not ubiquitous across all sets, numerous television shows have since made use of the practice, making it a nascent but growing field.
Caine is also not alone in his complaints. Last year, Game of Thrones and Snowpiercer actor Sean Bean claimed that intimacy coordination could “spoil the spontaneity” and get in the way of a scene. Caine expresses a similar sentiment here in that he implies that intimacy coordination is a means of “interfering” with how a scene is shot. Bean was criticized for such comments by notable stars including Emma Thompson and Jameela Jamil; it is possible that Caine too will be subject to similar scrutiny.
Both Caine and Bean’s words highlight how intimacy coordination is still a vastly misunderstood tool within Hollywood. Following the #MeToo movement, it seems that the need to maintain actors’ safety on-screen should be the bare minimum, not an extra add-on of such contention. Unfortunately, this is not the case as far too many prominent voices, like Caine, are blasé about sexual content. This attitude will hopefully change in the coming years as the need for intimacy coordinators is being called out everywhere from the SAG-AFTRA strike demands to post-production reflections from actors.
Source: The Daily Mail
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