Gwyneth Paltrow was among the stars labelled ‘disgraceful’ by Russell T Davies for dismissing the role of intimacy co-ordinators on set
TV writer Russell T Davies has hit out at “privileged” actors, including Gwyneth Paltrow, for suggesting that intimacy co-ordinators are an unnecessary presence during the filming of sex scenes.
Russell, whose acclaimed dramas include Channel 4’s Queer as Folk, It’s a Sin and the forthcoming Tip Toe, argued that high-profile stars claiming these on-set specialists were hampering creativity were simply mistaken.
Asserting that intimacy co-ordinators have become a vital component of many productions in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, he said: “There’s been a rash recently of very famous actors saying you don’t need intimacy co-ordinators.”
Singling out Paltrow by name, he declared: “They are disgraceful human beings. They have so much power and so much privilege and they have no idea what it is like to be a jobbing actor with no power on a set. Shame on them.”
It emerged last year that the American actress, 53, had instructed the intimacy co-ordinator on her film Marty Supreme to “step back” while working alongside lead actor Timothée Chalamet, reports the Mirror.
She recounted how the production’s co-ordinator had enquired whether she felt comfortable with a particular move during one intimate scene. “I was like, ‘Girl, I’m from the era where you get naked, you get in bed, the camera’s on’,” she explained. “We said, ‘I think we’re good. You can step a little bit back’.”
And Gwyneth added: “I don’t know how it is for kids who are starting out, but, if someone is like, ‘OK, and then he’s going to put his hand here,’ I would feel, as an artist, very stifled by that.”
She has received support from the likes of Kim Basinger and Sean Bean, both of whom have voiced comparable grievances.
Kim, whose credits include the 1986 erotic thriller 9 1/2 Weeks alongside Mickey Rourke, insisted she wouldn’t have employed an intimacy coordinator on set even had they existed at the time.
“I can’t imagine having somebody come up to me and say, ‘Do you mind if they put their hand here?’ That’s just another person in the room. Either we work it out or we don’t,” she explained.
Following his appearance in Game of Thrones, Sean Bean stated he was no admirer of intimacy coordinators as they “spoil the spontaneity” of an intimate scene. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter
Yet numerous performers have expressed feeling considerably more at ease with intimate scenes being choreographed in the same manner as a stunt, while others have revealed they wished such specialists had existed when they first entered the industry.
Kate Winslet said in 2024: “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.”
Daisy Edgar-Jones, who appeared in the BBC’s acclaimed series Normal People in 2020 at the age of 22, said she believed it was appropriate that actors had “more protection” explaining: “Mentally, it’s a really vulnerable place to put yourself in. You need to feel like you have the control and agency in those moments so that you can feel relaxed and give a better performance.”
Russell’s forthcoming Channel 4 series Tip Toe features scenes of a sexual nature, predominantly involving residents of Manchester’s renowned Canal Street, where the production was shot.
Director Phil Collinson revealed he had come to appreciate the importance of intimacy co-ordinators through his and Russell’s previous critically-lauded series It’s a Sin, which explored the 1980s AIDS crisis. “I’d never done it before – it’s an incredible experience. Before that point, I was just left out there. It was like, go on, make this sexy. And then it’d be me and two actors all looking at each other and lots of people just with their arms folded.”
Tip Toe is an urban thriller examining the escalating hostility towards the LGBTQ community in recent times, featuring real-life friends Alan Cumming as bar proprietor Leo and David Morrissey as his neighbouring electrician, Clive.
Alan, 61, revealed that shooting the demanding storylines proved so exhausting that he lacked the stamina to go out afterwards. “I basically lived like a monk. I was like ‘ooh, months and months in Manchester, I’ll have such a good time’. But I hardly went out. I mean, that’s so unlike me – I just felt I needed to sort of have some time to myself. It was really a lot.”
David suggests his character might appear to be the antagonist, but Clive was multifaceted. “What Russell does brilliantly is he writes a character that is three-dimensional and complex – sometimes you feel for him and sometimes you can’t stand him.”
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