Michael Douglas Says Intimacy Coordinators Feel Like Execs ‘Taking Control Away From Filmmakers’: ‘You Take Responsibility’ As a Man to ‘Make Sure the Woman Is Comfortable’
Michael Douglas has starred in some of the most iconic erotic thrillers ever made, from “Basic Instinct” to “Fatal Attraction,” so he knows a thing or two about crafting a memorable movie sex scene. In a new interview with The Telegraph, the actor gave his honest opinion about intimacy coordinators becoming the new normal in Hollywood when it comes to filming intimate moments on set.
“I’m past the age where I’ve got to worry about that. But it’s interesting with all the intimacy coordinators,” Douglas said when the topic of sex scenes came up during the interview. “It feels like executives taking control away from filmmakers — but there have been some terrible faux pas and harassment.”
More from Variety
“Sex scenes are like fight scenes, it’s all choreographed,” Douglas continued. “In my experience, you take responsibility as the man to make sure the woman is comfortable, you talk it through. You say, ‘Ok, I’m gonna touch you here if that’s all right’. It’s very slow but looks like it’s happening organically, which is hopefully what good acting looks like.”
Douglas is aware that harassment can be a real issue on film and television sets when it comes to performing intimate acts, but he’s noticed an overall mood change in how actors behave.
“I’m sure there were people that overstepped their boundaries, but before, we seemed to take care of that ourselves,” Douglas noted. “They would get a reputation and that would take care of them… But I talked to the ladies, [because] I did a few of those sex movies — sexual movies — and we joke about it now, what it would have been like to have an intimacy coordinator working with us…”
Douglas’ most recent acting role is that of Ben Franklin on the limited series “Franklin,” now streaming on Apple TV+. The drama, created by Kirk Ellis and Howard Korder, is based on Stacy Schiff’s 2005 book “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” Douglas stars opposite Noah Jupe, Daniel Mays, Ludivine Sagnier and more.
“The show was a great reminder for me about how fragile democracy is,” Douglas said at the show’s premiere last month. “And I think that Ben [Franklin] would be highly, highly disappointed in the distortion of either a republic or democracy that the United States has become. I hope that this upcoming election will be a cathartic experience for the United States and turn the page onto a new chapter.”
Head over to The Telegraph’s website to read his profile in its entirety.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
