Heather Graham (56) Reveals Mixed Feelings About Intimacy Coordinators on Set
Heather Graham recently shared her honest thoughts about having intimacy coordinators on movie sets during a chat with Us Weekly.
It sounds like she has some mixed feelings because she has been in the business for a long time. She started out in commercials before landing her first big movie role in the teen comedy License to Drive in 1988. Shortly after that, she got a lot of attention for her work in the movie Drugstore Cowboy in 1989.
She mentioned that the MeToo movement did a lot of great things and that the goal of protecting actors is a beautiful idea. However, she admitted that it feels weird when a random person is just standing there staring while you are trying to film a private moment.
She said, 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, it’s kind of awkward.
Her perspective comes from a career that spans decades of different filming styles. In the early nineties, she had roles in the show Twin Peaks and the movie Six Degrees of Separation. She really became a household name when she played Rollergirl in the 1997 movie Boogie Nights. That huge success led her to star in big comedies like Bowfinger and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
The atmosphere on set today can get intense when multiple coordinators are watching at once. Graham even remembered a time when a coordinator tried to give her acting tips during a sex scene, which she did not like. She made it clear she only takes notes from the person in charge, saying, You’re not the director, OK? I’m not asking for notes on how to have sex in the scene.
Graham has seen it all, from starring in movies like From Hell and Say It Isn’t So to appearing in hits like The Hangover and the show Scrubs. She even stepped behind the camera to direct her own movie called Half Magic in 2018. Because she has so much experience, she finds the new rules a bit intrusive. She recalled working on the movie Killing Me Softly where she actually ended up worrying about the coordinator because the person told her the scene was disturbing to watch.
Even though she has these personal hang-ups, she knows they are likely very helpful for younger actors who are just starting out and might feel vulnerable. She finished by saying, They have a beautiful intention, and they really want to help and protect actors.
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