JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
‘Talk It Through': Michael Douglas Says He Feels Intimacy Coordinators Are Altering Creative Process
With his long expertise in the genre, the two-time Academy Award winner enlightened today’s generation with suggestions on how actors filmed intimate scenes back in the day with a touch of chivalry.
Trigger Warning: This article includes references to sexual abuse
Filmmaker Michael Douglas, best known for starring in steamy thrillers Basic Instinct and Fatal Attraction, is shedding light on the current scenario of Hollywood sets brimming with intimacy coordinators. He believes the professionals, who were hardly required until the ‘90s, sometimes pose a hindrance to the creative process on sets.
With his long expertise in the genre, the two-time Academy Award winner enlightened today’s generation with suggestions on how actors filmed intimate scenes back in the day with a touch of chivalry. However, Douglas did not deny the many mishaps and harassment cases that have taken place over the years, one of which also involved his Basic Instinct co-star.
Michael Douglas's controversial take on intimacy coordinators
While many modern actors would disagree, Michael Douglas thinks that intimacy coordinators, who generally oversee the scenes and offer assistance when needed, are a hindrance to filmmakers. In an interview with Radio Times on Wednesday, May 8, he was asked about his opinion on the limited sex scenes in recent cinema.
The 79-year-old thriller star said, “I’m past the age where I’ve got to worry about that! But it’s interesting with all the intimacy co-ordinators. It feels like executives taking control away from film-makers.”
Douglas added, “ – but there have been some terrible faux pas and harassment.” The Game star compared “sex scenes” to fight scenes before explaining, “...it’s all choreographed. In my experience you take responsibility as the man to make sure the woman is comfortable, you talk it through.” The five-time Golden Globe winner suggested a pre-move declaration to the co-star which is “very slow but looks like it’s happening organically.”
Nevertheless, Douglas, who stars in the 2024 period drama Franklin, also talked to The Telegraph about his take on the significance of intimacy coordinators, citing sexual harassment cases. “I’m sure there were people that overstepped their boundaries, but before, we seemed to take care of that ourselves. They would get a reputation and that would take care of them,” the notable actor noted. Apparently, Douglas now jokes about the many sensual thrillers he filmed with his former co-stars, while also contemplating the need for such intimacy professionals on sets back then.
But his Basic Instinct co-star, Sharon Stone is probably not humorous about the matter. She alleged late Hollywood mogul and Paramount production head, Robert Evans of instructing her to have sex with co-star Billy Baldwin to improve the latter’s on-screen performance in 1993’s Silver. Baldwin has denied the allegations, per The Telegraph.
Hollywood stars who have addressed the need for intimacy professionals
Kate Winslet opened up about her reliance on intimacy coordinators in a recent interview with The New York Times Magazine. “I would have benefited from an intimacy coordinator every single time I had to do a love scene or be partially naked or even a kissing scene. It would have been nice to have had someone in my corner because I always had to stand up for myself,” the Oscar winner voiced in March 2024.
Similarly, Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl was fortunate enough to be in the presence of an intimacy coordinator only recently after she worked in Netflix’s Firefly Lane in 2021. Initially reluctant, Heigl ended up feeling “grateful” for the coordinator “because she protected us in a way that I didn't realize how unprotected we were," per a Variety's Actors on Actors interview in 2023.
Sophie Rundle, who stars as Ada Thorne in Peaky Blinders, also marked the professionals as a “vital” part of the crew. She pointed out that someone in the crew who oversaw the process, allowed for a neutral third party and anonymity if anything went down south and it was “really important.”
In the wake of Hollywood’s #MeToo movement which took the world by storm in 2017, the use of intimacy coordinators has increased manifold. Currently, it is also recommended by the SAG-AFTRA in their refurbished contract with the studios.
Disclaimer: If you need support or know someone who is struggling with domestic violence or assault or abuse, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist, NGO or speak to someone about it. There are several helplines available for the same.
Latest Articles
