Emma Thompson explains why intimacy coordinators are ‘absolutely essential’

Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Speaking to Andrew Marr on LBC, Dame Emma, 63, said: “I think if you’re a young woman on a set, which is largely peopled by men, the crew will be 90 per cent men and the women won’t be on the set with you, because generally speaking we do not have parity on any level on film sets. “You cannot imagine what people went through in some of those big series when they first started, the streaming series where women just had to take their clothes off.” Marr interjected at this point, saying: “Like Game of Thrones, for example.” “Yes, absolutely,” replied Thompson, “And that’s absolutely outrageous… “It’s not to say that they’re going to be in there all the time arranging your boobs, it’s that they can be there in case you might feel that there’s a position that you’ve got into that you’re not quite comfortable with, you know, your bum hole’s waving in the air, and you just think I don’t feel quite comfortable.” Thompson added: “I’ve worked with young actresses who’ve been truly traumatised by their experiences on set. Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack dance away insecurities in ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ Sir Ian, 83, spoke about the production roles on BBC Radio 4’s The Poet Laureate Has Gone to His Shed programme, telling Simon Armitage: “This isn’t yet mandatory, but I can imagine there are situations when you have to be careful and people find it difficult to be intimate, and therefore a co-ordinator is just the thing. This has been a huge change and it’s a little bit of beef for me, because with all these names of people doing all these jobs which would previously seem to have taken care of themselves.” Sean Bean, Sir Ian’s Lord of the Rings co-star, has also warned intimacy professionals can “spoil the spontaneity” of a scene.