Rolling Stone: Last spring, Emily Meade was getting ready to give a blow job in front of a crew of people on the Bronx set of HBO’s The Deuce, and she wasn’t thrilled about it. The penis wasn’t real — it was a dildo — but she had never done this specific thing on screen before. Meade, who plays budding porn star Lori, worried about that image of her being out in the world. “What if my future kids see this someday?” she thought. She was a woman in a sexualized industry, playing the role of a prostitute in 1970s New York; surely her concerns were not new. But in the era of #MeToo, her sense that she could do something about it was. The time was ripe to think about safety in the workplace — particularly if your job revolved around sex.
4 comments:
Sex, among many other things, is something that actors have just been expected to cope with. Honestly, it’s something I never really put too much thought into either. But now that I’ve read this article I understand the significance of treating these situations with respect. It’s not just about mature, cooperative actors, it’s about creating a safe space for sensitive content.
Something that really stood out to me was the bit about women having to be their own advocates. The fact that it is the actor’s job to state when they are uncomfortable is a lot to ask, particularly when you work in an industry built on satisfying others. You don’t want to be an inconvenience and operating under the expectation of others can put actors in a position that they are uncomfortable with, but push through to satisfy the director, the crew, the audience, whoever it may be.
As a DP it’s important to recognize the importance of actor safety and be an advocate. We have to be aware of how our actions and design affect the comfort level of the actor too. The interdisciplinary nature of this industry does not just extend from lighting to sound to scenic and so on, but to performers as well. Because none of this could happen without them.
The idea of an intimacy director is something that all entertainment fields should have. In the past there has been a lack of care in these situations and people were being taken advantage of. One thing I learned from this article is how someone in this position gets training. I am happy to see that they are seeking advice and rules ranging from lawyers to physiologist which will give a good perspective on both sides for the intimacy director to learn from. I also think the director is great in the sense that he is learning and changing the way he phrases certain scenes. While they are performing sexual acts this is still a work environment and just the language a director uses can really change the atmosphere of the set. I hope to see that theatre and film and tv will make this a policy to always have an intimacy director or coordinator.
This needs to be a mandatory thing in any acting situation, either for the stage or screen. As a manager making sure actors are comfortable with what they are asked to do is part of the job, which is not easy, especially with work like sex scenes. The inherent power dynamic between a director and an actor makes it difficult for a performer to speak up, so having an advocate is so important. While management can be a good go between of the cast and creative direction, having someone who is specifically trained in what the performers are doing, such as a fight choreographer is needed, so why should a sex scene be different? I hope that more networks follow HBO's lead, and that more performers feel empowered to request an intimacy coach be present. I understand that on smaller budget projects, it is a burden to hire another person, but I would say a coach for these situations can be the most important part of achieving the goal of the scene.
I think the role of an intimacy director is really, really good. Usually, this is the kind thing that falls to the stage managers in our world. However, that is just an assumption that the managers will be thinking about this kind of thing specifically, but instead, having an expert on set who is specifically trained for this both creates a safer work environment because of the professional and their training but also telegraphs to the actors that you are thinking actively about their comfort and safety and let's them feel safer and more comfortable in bringing concerns forward. Giving those who on the lower end of the power balance feel empowered about voicing their concerns, in any situation, is half the battle. Sex scenes have too long been something that actors are just expected to "get on with." Adding a trained professional acknowledges that any concerns/insecurities they may be having are valid instead of leaving them feeling like they're just not enough.
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