Yorgos Lanthimos praises his Poor Things intimacy coordinator: “You realize you actually need them”
Emma Stone "had to have no shame about her body and nudity" for Poor Things, says director Yorgos Lanthimos
Aux News Poor Things
Relative to the long history of cinema, the intimacy coordinator is a brand-new position, a role that is still being carved into set life. The point of this position is to make sure that sex scenes (or otherwise intimate scenes) feel safe and healthy for the actors while also creating choreography that feels natural and real. It marks a change that hasn’t always been embraced by the entertainment industry, but Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos, for one, is all for it.
“I have to credit Elle McAlpine, our intimacy coordinator,” Lanthimos said at the Poor Things presser in Venice (per Deadline). “At the beginning, this profession felt a little threatening to most filmmakers, but I think it’s like everything: if you’re with a good person, it’s great and you realize you actually need them. She made everything much easier for everyone.”
Filmmakers aren’t the only ones who chafed at the idea of an intimacy coordinator. Some actors of an older generation, like Sean Bean, have voiced their dissent about needing one. Meanwhile, younger stars like Joe Alwyn and Milly Alcock have attested to positive experiences working with an intimacy coordinator.
Enabling an actor to achieve a level of comfort and safety for nudity and intimacy is ultimately still the responsibility of the director, and luckily for Poor Things star Emma Stone, Lanthimos was able to create a conducive environment despite the large-scale production. During those scenes, there would only be “three people in the room. Just the camera, and sometimes even sound wouldn’t be there,” he said.
Of course, there’s also the fact that his Oscar-winning leading lady is an absolute pro. “Emma had to have no shame about her body and nudity. And she understood that was needed right away,” Lanthimos shared. “The great thing about Emma and myself is that we have completed four films together, so there is a shorthand. We can communicate without having to explain everything.”