There are so many great directors on this show. For episodes five and six, specifically, you have two excellent, critically acclaimed directors Zetna Fuentes and Susanna White. Can you talk about working with them?
The craziest thing this year was [the show was] all women directors except for the first two episodes, [which were] directed by one of our producers, Alex [Hall]. This past season, I’ve worked with more female directors than I have in my whole career over 11 years. That’s a pretty crazy process to not only experience that much feminine energy and how healthy it can be, but also to see how many female directors there are that just are not being given these opportunities.
Zetna and Susanna are both tremendous and brilliant in their own ways, I loved them both, and I think you can see in the episodes. It’s a delicate show, and they were really wonderful to work with. Also, my ultimate goal is to direct, so it was great to just watch all these female directors and how they all had their own styles, and you can’t deny that it is different being directed by a woman than a man. Men and women have different ways and energies [laughter], so it was fascinating to observe female directors, how they do it [laughter], and how they manage a team of mostly men and their way of doing that.
That’s wonderful. You initiated the intimacy coordinator for “The Deuce.” It speaks a lot to the lack of supervision for sex scenes in the film industry. Your part obviously requires a lot of nudity and sex scenes. How has the intimacy coordinator helped?
The intimacy coordinator is transformative. I’m overjoyed it’s been implemented, and my goal is to do whatever I can to make it a strict legal requirement because it is mind-boggling to me that it has not already been a part of sexuality in film. For me, I think I’ve had a fascinating process because half of what we’re doing is seeking some sort of catharsis for our own trauma or pain.
I’ve played a lot of sexualized characters, which is interesting [laughter]. When I was younger, I was a lot more desensitized and disassociated, both in my real life and in my acting and sort of was able to shut down and shut off and not be as aware of the fact that I was involved in this and my sexuality onscreen. As I’ve gotten older, and especially in the process of “The Deuce” season one, I matured into a place where I did feel more in touch with myself, my body, my sexuality. I’ve felt more sensitive and protective over it; wanting to actually be present in it instead of just let whatever happen in the scene and not even really be there for it, mentally.
Then the fact that everything with Time’s Up and MeToo was starting, and there was a conversation that was actually being had, and people were actually saying they were uncomfortable with things—the combination of all those things made me realize that the lack of structure. It has undoubtedly led me to feel ways I don’t want to, and there’s really no reason for that.
Intimacy coordinators apparently have existed for a while, but I didn’t know it. It just seemed like a no-brainer—there should be someone whose sole job is to protect the actors in sexual situations, just like there is when there’s a child on set or a pet on set, or a stunt. I went to HBO and requested that, and they hired someone right away. Even vocalizing that was a massive thing for me, to say, “I’m uncomfortable,” and to ask for change and then to have Alicia on set and there to primarily just protect us and give us whatever it is we need has been very transformative.
You alluded to this earlier; are you eyeing any potential projects to direct currently?
Nope [laughter]. I don’t know if it’s just an excuse out of fear or what, but I’ve pushed directing to my 30s or 40s or time once I feel more comfortable in my position as an actor. That truly might be an excuse, and I’m learning more and more that as an actor, you might never feel comfortable and you’re always looking for the next level of success. I’ve just been observing and learning from sets. And I’m a perfectionist which doesn’t help. I think I will be good at it, but there’s a lot of pressure on it for me from myself. So, right now, I’m not working on anything [laughter].
“The Deuce,” season two, episode five, “All You’ll Be Eating is Cannibals” airs Sunday, October 7 at 9pm ET.
