As the conversation around intimacy coordinators has grown recently, The Dropout star Amanda Seyfried has shared her support for them to be implemented on all sets while sharing a troubling story from the early parts of her career.
Speaking to Porter Magazine, Seyfried said that she emerged from the “pre-#MeToo era pretty unscathed” but there were times that she was put in uncomfortable positions while on set.
Going further, she detailed a time that she found herself questioning what she was doing, but continued anyway in fear of losing her job.
“Being 19, walking around without my underwear on – like, are you kidding me? How did I let that happen? Oh, I know why: I was 19 and I didn’t want to upset anybody, and I wanted to keep my job. That’s why.”
The conversation around intimacy coordinators has resurfaced after Game of Thrones star Sean Bean criticized the idea when speaking to The Times UK, arguing that it can ruin the “natural way lovers behave” while filming.
“It would inhibit me more because it’s drawing attention to things. Somebody saying, ‘Do this, put your hands there, while you touch his thing… I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.”
Intimacy coordinators have become more common on film and TV sets over the years. These team members are there to ensure the well-being of actors taking part in sexually intimate scenes.
Now 36, Seyfried is nominated for an Emmy in what is being dubbed her best year in acting yet for Hulu’s drama series The Dropout.