Intimacy Coordinator Defends Jenna Ortega’s Sex Scene With Martin Freeman Following Online Criticism
Jenna Ortega was 'comfortable' filming a sex scene with Martin Freeman despite their 31-year age gap, says intimacy coordinator https://t.co/3uGBRBvSjj
- Insider (@thisisinsider) February 8, 2024
In the film, Jenna Ortega, 21, plays 18-year-old student Cairo Sweet who begins an inappropriate relationship with her creative writing teacher, played by Martin Freeman, 52.
Following the film’s release, viewers expressed their unease at watching the Wednesday actress engage in “uncomfortable” sexual scenes with an actor who is 31 years her senior. One particular scene has been doing the rounds on social media, with many describing it as "gross."
Intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona defended the scenes and told The Daily Fail that Jenna was involved in decisions about the curation of the racy moments, as she insisted that at no point were any "boundaries surpassed."
"There was 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," Kristina said. "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."
Kristina discussed the "level of nudity" with Jenna and Martin, as well as which "simulated sex scenes" were required, before talking them through modesty garments and the "additional barriers" they could use to ensure an "appropriate distance" was maintained.
This information was also given to the actors in a written format 48 hours before the scenes were filmed, but Kristina stressed that they "also have the option on the day to change their mind if they don't want to do any of the elements that we've discussed."
She revealed there were ample discussions between cast and crew before the scenes were shot and that test audiences were used to give bosses an idea of what was "too much."
"For this film, in particular, because of the sensitivity of the content, they had some different variations of how they wanted to shoot these scenes so that audiences could watch them at test screenings to see what was too much."
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