The drama surrounding Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman‘s movie Miller’s Girl has affected the roles of intimacy coordinators going forward.
SAG-AFTRA updated their guidelines for the use of intimacy coordinators, according to Deadline. The actors guild specifically rolled out stricter rules about confidentiality which means any intimacy coordinator who does not adhere to the required standards could be removed from SAG-AFTRA’s registry.
“Intimacy coordinators are a crucial resource on any set to ensure the protection of our members working in intimate scenes,” a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson told Deadline on Friday, February 23. “Intimacy coordinators should maintain the confidentiality of an actor’s work and experience in performing highly sensitive scenes unless they have the actor’s permission to publicly share this information.”
The statement continued: “The public release of details about an actor’s scene work or confidences entrusted to the intimacy coordinator without the performer’s consent is unacceptable.”
According to the new rules, an intimacy coordinator can speak about movie or TV scenes that were filmed in the event that law enforcement is involved or with distinct permission from the actors and production. Deadline noted that Lionsgate and Ortega had no comment on how the recent controversy around Miller’s Girl allegedly played a role in SAG-AFTRA’s increased confidentiality measures.
Miller’s Girl, which debuted in theaters last month, introduced a student-teacher romance between Ortega and Freeman’s characters. Before the film was released, viewers questioned how Miller’s Girl might romanticize a relationship between an underage girl and a man who is in his 50s. The movie continued to receive backlash when clips went viral on social media showing a sexual moment between the characters.
Intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona defended the scene, telling the Daily Mail last month, “There [were] many, many people throughout this process engaging with [Jenna] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do.”
Arjona noted that Ortega, 21, was part of the discussions about the NSFW content.
“Part of my job too is supporting her decisions. I adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors,” she continued. “I’m hyper aware of both of my talent and making sure that we’re consistently checking in and that at no point are any of their boundaries being surpassed. And, again, making sure — especially with someone who’s significantly younger — that they are giving continuous consent.”
Ortega and Freeman, 52, have not publicly addressed the controversy around Miller’s Girl.
