This week, the long-awaited (in my calendar, at least) Actors on Actors conversation between Pamela Anderson and Mikey Madison arrived. In it, the star of Gia Coppola's The Last Showgirl and Sean Baker's Anora, respectively, discussed aging, pickling vegetables, and, most notably, intimacy coordinators. As it so often does, the topic elicited a brow-raising response from at least one of its participants.
According to Madison, there wasn't an intimacy coordinator on the set of Anora...a film about a sex worker in a whirlwind relationship with one of her former clients.
"For our film, it was a choice that I made; the filmmakers offered me, if I wanted, an intimacy coordinator. Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan, and I decided it would be best to just keep it small," Madison told Anderson. "My character is a sex worker, and I had seen Sean’s films and know his dedication to authenticity. I was ready for it. As an actress, I approached it as a job."
Frankly, giving the lead the choice of an intimacy coordinator as opposed to immediately employing one on a film in which she is often nude and/or simulating sex seems like a labor law violation. And in 2024? I'm listening, and I'm judging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZOSvnOQX-s
“It requires a lot of her body and her skin. I think that—I’ve said it before—but I think she wears her nudity more like a costume in a way," Madison went on. "She presents herself in this sort of hypersexualized way because it’s how she makes a living, and it’s just what she has to do. And so I think I also, as an actress, I approached it in a way of like, it being a job. So I was very comfortable.” OK.
In previous interviews, Baker has discussed his general stance on intimacy coordinators and it’s…questionable. To the Associated Press, he said that the decision should be a “case by case basis, a film by film basis." Further, in another recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he claimed that it's "important" for an actor to be given the option and that his experience in shooting sex scenes put everyone at ease on Anora.
“I have directed sex themes throughout my career, so I was very comfortable doing so and also as a producer on my film, the number one priority is the safety and comfort of my actors," Baker said. "So by the time we got to shooting, I think we were so comfortable that it was approached in such an incredibly clinical way. There was no improv. We like to call them sex shots, not sex scenes, because they’re blocked, they’re calculated.” Call it whatever you'd like but I've seen Anora and a series of "sex shots" it most certainly is not. Even still, shouldn't a qualified third party (without creative input in the project) still be present for, you know, guaranteed safety and legal purposes?
While we're recalling Baker and Madison's past comments, it should also be noted that Madison told The Hollywood Reporter that Baker and his wife and producer partner blocked out the intimate scenes themselves...
“We talked at length about each scene, what it would look like," Madison said. "And Sean and his wife and producing partner Sammy [Samantha Quan] would even block out what it would look like [on screen].” Christ. Hollywood needs a Human Resources department so badly.
Reactions to Madison's comments have been shockingly mixed. Certainly, one subset of the terminally online has asserted their importance.
"Intimacy coordinators don’t just protect the cast, they protect others working on set as well. more than that, they are also just good legal protection for everyone involved. not having them around on a movie featuring such heavy and consistent intimacy scenes is irresponsible," one user wrote on Twitter. "sean baker is a sleazy fuck for even asking mikey madison if she wanted an intimacy coordinator when it should be a mandatory requirement. quite sick of him being praised by the academy and others as if he’s the messiah for sex workers," wrote another.
Meanwhile, a different subset of the internet has co-signed Baker's ethos.
"If ur operating under the assumption that there is vulnerability in filming a sex scene, just as someone might find safety in more oversight, it’s reasonable to also want privacy to work with the people you’ve known for 1+ years w/o someone coming to set you’ve known for 2 weeks," one person wrote. "I can’t believe people are so passionate about Intimacy Coordinators as if that wasn’t the fakest most useless jobs invented just for the optics like five years ago…" another (ill-informed) user said.
