In the post-#MeToo era, Hollywood’s been loading up on intimacy coordinators like a nervous chaperone at prom. The idea? Keep sex scenes safe, respectful, and free of coercion. The reality? Not everyone’s buying in, and some stars are starting to push back.
Enter Gwyneth Paltrow, the queen of $500 face creams and jade eggs, who recently admitted to Vanity Fair that she had no idea intimacy coordinators were even a thing before stepping onto the Marty Supreme set with Timothée Chalamet.
“There’s now something called an intimacy coordinator, which I did not know existed,” Paltrow said. When asked if she was cool with a particular movement, her gut response was pure old-school Hollywood: “Girl, I’m from the era where you get naked, you get in bed, the camera’s on.”
Ultimately, she and Chalamet decided they didn’t need the extra hand-holding. “We said, ‘I think we’re good. You can step a little bit back,’” she explained, suggesting that while some actors might benefit from the oversight, she found it stifling.
And she’s not alone. Mikey Madison, fresh off an Oscar win for Anora, also opted to forgo an intimacy coordinator while filming, saying she and co-star Mark Eydelshteyn preferred a stripped-down approach—just them, the camera, and a quick shoot. “We were able to streamline it, shoot it super quickly,” she told Pamela Anderson in a Variety interview.
Then there’s Kim Basinger, a legend who never needed a playbook when it came to steamy scenes. “I can’t imagine having somebody come up to me and say, ‘Do you mind if they put their hand here?’” she scoffed in a February Variety interview. “Either we work it out or we don’t. I don’t see all of this need for supervised visits.”
The Case for Intimacy Coordinators
Of course, there’s another side to this debate. Jessica Steinrock, CEO of Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC), argues that intimacy coordinators are essential for making sure actors don’t get strong-armed into uncomfortable situations.
“They are there to ensure bodily autonomy and consent for everyone involved in the project,” she told Yahoo Entertainment. Essentially, they exist to prevent the dark-side horror stories that have plagued Hollywood since its golden age.
The Bottom Line
So, is Hollywood shifting on intimacy coordinators? Maybe. While younger, less experienced actors may appreciate the safety net, veterans like Paltrow, Basinger, and Madison seem to prefer the old-school method—where chemistry and trust trump paperwork and supervision.
One thing’s for sure: the debate isn’t over. And in an industry that loves to self-police until the next scandal breaks, the balance between protection and creative freedom will always be a moving target.
Celebrity Cinema Hollywood Sex
Last modified: April 3, 2025
