Recommendations of the Editorial team
For several years now, especially in Hollywood, so-called intimacy coordinators on set have been responsible for ensuring that nothing unexpected happens during sex scenes. Even the job title sounds so little like what is being simulated that it is difficult to imagine a “pleasure accident”. And yet it happens that actors become aroused while filming.
David Thackeray, who works as an intimacy coordinator for Netflix, Warner Bros., Apple TV, BBC and HBO, now offers a rare insight into what to do in such surprising situations. In an interview with “Business Insider,” he said that this was completely normal and happened often. Actors are “very physically and mentally challenged” while filming sex scenes, he added – and that’s why it happens.
If it happens, production will stop immediately. Thackery: “We just make it very clear that this is nothing special and that the worst thing you can do is just keep going. So we call it a ‘time out’. We give them five minutes, then I come in and check… Then we keep going when they’re ready.”
Thackery added that actors are warned in advance that this can happen. The team is therefore informed in advance that it is important not to “stare” or “make a big deal about it”. The same applies to the crew, who can also request a “time out” in such a situation. Thackeray: “I also explain to the crew what to expect so that everyone knows what scene will be shot and what nude scenes will be seen. You don’t want them to be surprised.”
Nudity on set is well prepared
While some scenes in the finished film seem hot, this usually doesn’t apply to the actors during filming, at least in Hollywood. According to Backstage, there are a number of measures in place to ensure the safety and well-being of the performers and to facilitate their choreography.
Before the scene is even filmed, the parties involved in a sex scene meet individually with the intimacy coordinator. This ensures in advance that those involved feel safe in the scene. Limits and other concerns are made clear here. But some things have to be left out.
The intimacy coordinator then works with a choreographer on set to clarify what can and cannot happen in the scene. It is discussed which areas of the body the actors would like to show and touch and what limits they have when filming a sex scene.
Good glue is everything
Some arrangements are then made backstage for nudity in front of the camera. There is full-body makeup that shields certain parts of the body from the camera and prevents genitals from coming into contact. Strapless strings (Shibues and Hibues) protect the pubic area. They adhere directly to the body and create the illusion of nudity. For all the neurotics who should be interested: Although the adhesive is quite strong, it can be removed with baby oil.
In the “Backstage” report, an intimacy coordinator explains that silicone protection is placed underneath the thongs so that everyone looks like Barbie dolls. Men can alternatively choose to wear a “sock”. This is a skin-colored bag with a drawstring that encloses the penis and testicles. Women can also use pasties over their nipples.
What appears pretty unmasked and sometimes wild on TV and in the cinema requires a lot of preparatory work and disguise technology on set. And when life takes its course, there is a “time out”.
