Michael Douglas speaks out on the use of intimacy coordinators

Michael Douglas, a veteran of sexy movies like Basic Instinct, Fatal Attraction, and Disclosure, was asked to comment on fewer sex scenes showing up in films.

“I’m past the age where I’ve got to worry about that,” Douglas, 79, told the U.K.’s Radio Times, per The Telegraph. “But it’s interesting with all the intimacy coordinators. It feels like executives taking control away from filmmakers — but there have been some terrible faux pas and harassment.”

Intimacy coordinators work with the actors before an intimate scene is filmed to ensure actors feel comfortable with what’s taking place. The practice of hiring them has gone mainstream in the past few years, and SAG-AFTRA even notes in its latest union contract that productions must make an effort to hire them in such cases.

New York City–based intimacy coordinator Amy Northup explained to CBS News her process this way: “Scenes are usually written as ‘They go at it,’ or ‘They make love.’ For one director it could mean they kiss, fall into bed, and the camera directs away. For another it would be we stay on them, one person climbs on top, and there’s a moment that could be really detailed. So the first thing we ask the director is, ‘What are you picturing? What are shot setups, what is the body positioning, the degree of nudity, what actual sex acts do they engage in?”

Actor Ewan McGregor revealed in March to the Radio Times that he and his off-screen wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, even used an intimacy coordinator when they filmed their TV series A Gentleman in Moscow.

“It’s still necessary, because it’s also about the crew, and it’s odd to be naked in front of people, it’s odd to be intimate in front of the camera,” the Moulin Rouge! actor said. “If you were doing a dance scene, you’d have a choreographer. It’s an important part of the work now, because it’s somebody that the director and actors meet in the middle.”

Some actors who filmed sex scenes — or any intimate moments — have later complained about the experience. Douglas’ Basic Instinct costar Sharon Stone, for instance, has said (and wrote in her 2021 memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice) that she was tricked into filming a scene in which she removed her underwear. (Director Paul Verhoeven has denied that.)

Just last month, Zendaya said that the intimacy coordinator on her racy movie Challengers was “very helpful.”

The Wall Street alum offered his philosophy based on his career.

“In my experience, you take responsibility as the man to make sure the woman is comfortable, you talk it through,” he said. “You say, ‘Okay, I’m gonna 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.”

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