By and large, the inclusion of intimacy coordinators seems to be a good thing for the industry. In fact, it’s sad when you think about all those decades when they weren’t on set to help make sure everyone was comfortable performing these incredibly sensitive moments. That said, there are still people who don’t believe intimacy coordinators are necessary and, in fact, do more harm than good. One such person is Michael Douglas.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Douglas gave his opinion about intimacy coordinators, and let’s just say that he’s not a fan. The actor believes these intimacy coordinators actually do harm to the art of filmmaking because they take away control from directors.
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“It’s interesting with all the intimacy coordinators,” Douglas said. “It feels like executives taking control away from filmmakers — but there have been some terrible faux pas and harassment.”
He added, “Sex scenes are like fight scenes; it’s all choreographed. In my experience, you take responsibility as the man to make sure the woman is comfortable; you talk it through. You say, ‘OK, I’m going to touch you here if that’s all right.’ It’s very slow but looks like it’s happening organically, which is hopefully what good acting looks like.”
Even though he doesn’t believe intimacy coordinators are necessary, Douglas does understand that some people “overstepped” in sex scenes. However, the actor believes the people who go too far will be punished by the industry by losing work. In effect, filmmakers will police it themselves.
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“I’m sure there were people that overstepped their boundaries, but before, we seemed to take care of that ourselves,” Douglas said. “They would get a reputation, and that would take care of them. But I talked to the ladies, [because] I did a few of those sex movies — sexual movies — and we joke about it now, what it would have been like to have an intimacy coordinator working with us…”
It’s no surprise that Douglas lands on this side of the issue. We’ve seen several actors of his generation come out against intimacy coordinators. However, this is likely a battle he’s going to lose, as it would be incredibly shocking if intimacy coordinators weren’t a regular part of the filmmaking process for the foreseeable future.
