An intimacy coordinator responds after Mikey Madison revealed #Anora did not have one on set:
“We’re really only hearing from the two lead actors, the director and the producer… We’re hearing from the people who have the most power on this set, but they can’t speak for how… pic.twitter.com/MzA0ZD1uQ4
— Variety (@Variety) December 19, 2024
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“It was a choice that I made,” Madison said. There was no intimacy coordinator on set of Anora.
To that, intimacy coordinator Marci Liroff says, “She’s empowered, she has autonomy within herself, and I totally get that. But an intimacy coordinator is not just there for the lead actors.”
Jessica Steinrock, CEO of Intimacy Coordinators and Directors Inc., concurs: “When framed as ‘Do you want this support or not?,’ it makes sense to me that someone might opt out because they personally do not feel the need for additional advocacy or support, not fully recognizing how the role also supports others on set.”
According to Liroff, many in her line of work are unsettled by the idea that actors were positioned as the decision-makers around intimate scenes in Anora.
“I admire Sean Baker as a filmmaker a lot, but what became really obvious to me is that he neglects to understand the power dynamics that are inherent on set. It is next to impossible for a performer to say no to someone who has hiring and firing power. You don’t want to seem needy. You don’t want to have to spend more money — we’re a new position on set, so we’re a new line item on the budget.”
Lauren Kiele DeLeon, an intimacy coordinator : “We’re really only hearing from the two lead actors, the director and the producer. We’re hearing from the people who have the most power on this set, but they can’t speak for how every extra felt on the film.”
An intimacy coordinator is responsible for ensuring the comfort and safety of the crew members present for scenes involving nudity, Liroff says, “in case a performer or a crew member gets triggered by a scene and has a panic attack. These actors felt comfortable with their director — that’s great. But I think we leave out a lot of other people when we focus on the people who have the most power. Throughout history, we’ve had cameramen who have to sit there, silently, and literally record assault, and not feel that they could say anything. We are in an industry of people who are trained to just say yes and not think about anything further. That’s a hard thing to rewire.”
As Liroff puts it, hiring a sex work consultant without an intimacy coordinator : “It is like talking to someone who wrote a book about stunts and then not hiring a stunt coordinator.”
A representative for Madison declined to comment.
Neon, the film’s distributor, declined to comment.
