Gwyneth Paltrow hasn’t made many movies in the last few years, but she’s getting ready for her biggest role in quite some time opposite Timothée Chalamet in the upcoming film Marty Supreme. Paltrow recently discussed one of the biggest changes in Hollywood since she was more active, the advent of the intimacy coordinator, and now an entertainment executive is taking her to task for her comments.
Paltrow recently made light of the intimacy coordinator’s role, saying she was “from the era where you get naked, you get in bed, the camera’s on.” Speaking at Series Mania (via Deadline), Caroline Hollick, the former head of drama at Channel 4 in the U.K., called Paltrow’s comments “irresponsible” due to the actress' perceived power in the relationship. She said…
Every now and then an actor makes a comment over whether they like intimacy coordinators or not. Gwyneth Paltrow said she grew up in a time when [people in Hollywood] ‘took our kit off and got on with it.’ As a powerful woman in Hollywood acting with a man much younger than her, well I’m sure [Chalamet] is chill but I thought it was quite an irresponsible thing to say.
Paltrow said she would feel “stifled” as an artist to have an intimacy coordinator on set potentially instructing her on what to do during an intimate scene, something there are apparently quite a lot of in Marty Supreme.
Hollick’s comments seem focused on the fact that Paltrow, being a major star and much older than her co-star, Timothée Chalamet, is potentially in a position of power over others here. It’s an interesting turn considering intimacy coordinators were largely an offshoot of the #MeToo movement, something Paltrow herself was involved in, considering she publicly spoke about sexual advances made by Harvey Weinstein when she was young.
It sounds from Paltrow’s original comments, the intimacy coordinator was not directly involved in scenes with Paltrow and Chalmet, which is fine if everybody involved agrees to it. Hollick points out the job exists as a way to have somebody advocating on behalf of actors who don’t necessarily hold the power. She continued…
Bringing an intimacy coordinator on set empowers an actor because there is someone on side who is there to fight for them. Producers have an agenda, writers have an agenda and directors have an agenda. So having someone to back the performer is important.
Paltrow isn’t the first actor to say they’re not a fan of the intimacy coordinator, but there have also been many who are quite supportive of the concept. Overall, it seems to have been a net positive for the industry that the option at least exists for those who want it.