Heather Graham shared mixed feelings about Hollywood’s “awkward” new approach to filming sex scenes.
Graham opened up about working with intimacy coordinators in the wake of the #MeToo Movement.
“I think the MeToo movement was amazing [and] I think there is a very good intention behind intimacy coordinators. But it is odd when you come up without having them, and suddenly there’s this random person in the room just staring at you when you’re, like, pretending you have sex,” she told Us Weekly. “It’s kind of awkward.”
“I know that they have a beautiful intention, and they really want to help and protect actors,” Graham continued. “But as the actor, sometimes I’m like, ‘Can you just get all these people out of the room?’”
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Graham, who starred in “Boogie Nights,” slammed the “confusing” new reality of filming sex scenes. She recalled a moment on set when she felt an intimacy coordinator overstepped.
“One time, I had an intimacy coordinator, and they started directing me on, like, how to have sex in a scene,” Graham remembered. “They were like, ‘When you do this, you can do this.’ And I was like, ‘You’re not the director, OK? I’m not asking for notes on how to have sex in the scene.'”
“I just felt, like, ‘Shut up,’” she added. “I’m like, ‘You can just tell this to the director… because I don’t want to have two different people directing me.’ It’s confusing.”
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Graham said there was also a time when she felt she had to protect an intimacy coordinator while filming a particularly intense horror scene.
“I just did this other horror movie, and there was this adorable intimacy coordinator. She was in her 20s, super sweet. We were doing this scary scene, and I felt like I had to take care of her,” she noted. “She’s like, ‘This is really disturbing.’ And I’m like, ‘I know, I’m sorry,’” she added with a laugh. “It’s kind of awkward.”
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Graham began her career with small roles in commercials and TV before landing teen films such as “License to Drive” and “Drugstore Cowboy.”
She saw her breakthrough with “Boogie Nights,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and “Bowfinger.”
Graham landed a role in the blockbuster film “The Hangover” in 2009. She has since continued acting in films and TV while also expanding into writing and directing projects. Her latest film, “They Will Kill You,” will be released on March 27.
The “Killing Me Softly” star explained she feels confident enough after a decades-long career to not need the help of an intimacy coordinator.
“It might be better if you’re younger and don’t know how to stand for yourself and speak up for yourself,” the 56-year-old actress said. “At this point, I feel like I’m strong enough.”
“So I just don’t want a lot of extra people in the room.”
