Toni Collette Says Intimacy Coordinators Are Not Always A Necessity

Intimacy coordinators have been at the center of a number of debates recently, and award-winning actress Toni Collette has addressed the subject in a recent interview. There have been many differing opinions about the use of intimacy coordinators on film and TV sets during the filming of a number of scenes such as explicit sex scenes and scenes that may be harrowing or disturbing for actors to take part in. For Collette, the use of intimacy coordinators is not something that she feels is always needed, but should be used as more of a safety net.

The inclusion of intimacy coordinators in filming environments to ensure the well-being of actors when they participate in sex scenes, and particularly scenes that involve sexual violence, is something that has become a normality over recent years, ushered in by the #MeToo movement and the many allegations of misconduct on film and TV sets. While some actors have been quick to praise the movement such as Girls and Catherine Called Birdy star Lena Dunham, Collette revealed that she has actually denied intimacy coordinators access to the filming of scenes because she didn’t feel they were required. She told IndieWire:

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“I have to say, in a couple of scenes and different various jobs, I have been offered an intimacy coordinator, but I have felt so connected and safe with my creative partners that the intimacy coordinator felt like they were encroaching upon the process, and I’ve denied them access to the actual scene because I didn’t feel like I needed them.”

Are Intimacy Coordinators Necessary On All Film Sets?

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The question of whether an intimacy coordinator is always needed on set seems to be something that is really decided by the specific actors and actresses involved in the project. This is not the first time Collette has spoken about her lack of requirement for an intimacy coordinator during sex scenes, having previously commented on her role in HBO’s The Staircase, in which she starred alongside Colin Firth. At the time she said:

Having been in the film industry for three decades, Collette is a veteran of Hollywood who is clearly confident in working with the right people to negate the need to have an intimacy coordinator being present for any sex scenes she is involved in. For many younger stars, who have not maybe had as much experience or are cautious about being intimately close to co-stars they don’t know well, it seems that the need for that “safety net” is much more important.

“They hired an intimacy coordinator — I didn’t want to talk to her, because I felt, between Antonio and Colin, completely safe. There was a lot of trust. And I knew the crew, and that was my team,” she said. “If I’d been with other people where I didn’t feel as comfortable, I probably would have welcomed her there. But I just I felt so secure in our world that I didn’t feel the need for her presence.”