Aidan Turner criticises lack of intimacy coordinators on past projects

Aidan Turner has criticised the lack of intimacy coordinators on past projects that he has been involved in.

The Poldark actor is set to star in new TV drama Fifteen-Love about a tennis coach accused of abuse, and spoke about working with an intimacy coordinator for sex scenes in the series, admitting that in the past directors were “awkward” for such scenes.

“It’s just a few years ago when it wouldn’t be commonplace to have an intimacy coordinator on set,” he told Metro.

“And then a few years before that, I mean, the term wasn’t even known. It was awkward in some moments. Not always, but directors, I found in my experience, weren’t always great at doing that.”

Turner continued: “They had the rough parameters of what they want, but then would slowly Homer Simpson back into the bush and disappear a little bit and then you’re left with just the two actors going, ‘Okay, let’s figure this out’. But in our story here, absolutely, we needed somebody.

“To have the scene do what it’s supposed to do, and not just a generic thing, whatever the intimacy of the scene is, to try and achieve that creatively with the intimacy coordinator you can really get into the depths of that with that physical movement.”

The star went on to explain that they “break down into a very technical way what’s required and then you kind of build on that again,” adding: “Once you have all the building blocks and technical bits, even like where you put your hands and if they’re having sex at what kind of what pace are they doing it”.

“You know, is there kissing and it’s just all the little bits and then when you start to put that together, you can build character and emotion, and everything but you’re safe in that surrounding,” he said. “And then the scene is better because it’s interesting, and it does what it’s supposed to do as a vehicle for the show and telling the story.”

Turner noted that having an intimacy coordinator on Fifteen-Love was “needed”, further admitting: “I don’t know where we would have been.”

Meanwhile, earlier this year actress Toni Collette revealed that she asked intimacy coordinators to leave set because she felt “more anxious” with them around.

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