Credit: NetflixJenna Ortega has been an overall trendsetter in Hollywood over the past few years, and now, one of her most recent projects, Miller’s Girl, starring Martin Freeman has gotten a lot of attention after the film’s intimacy coordinator began to overshare.
While Miller’s Girl did not seem to get too much press before it was released, after the Lionsgate film came out on January 26th, many began chatting about it, specifically due to the sexual nature between Ortega and Freeman and their notable age gap, as well as female kissing scenes that Ortega took part in for the film.
Miller’s Girl follows the intricate bond between two isolated intellectuals: Jonathan Miller (Freeman), a struggling writer, and his extraordinary student, Cairo Sweet (Ortega). As a creative writing assignment forces them to confront uncomfortable truths, they find themselves navigating blurred boundaries beyond the realm of academia. The film explores the inevitable and compelling attraction between characters who simultaneously embody both heroism and villainy in each other’s narratives.
The cast also includes Bashir Salahuddin, Gideon Adlon, and Dagmara Domińczyk, with production helmed by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Josh Fagen, and Mary-Margaret Kunze. Freeman serves as an executive producer on the project.
Deadline has reported that SAG-AFTRA has recently implemented stricter guidelines surrounding intimacy coordinators due to the controversy surrounding this film, “Following recent revelations about what went on in the filming of the Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman-starring Miller’s Girl, the Guild has tightened up its Standards and Protocols for the use of Intimacy Coordinators – especially when it comes to confidentiality.
As a part of the stricter measures, any intimacy coordinator who does not adhere to the required standards could potentially be removed from SAG-AFTRA’s registry after an investigation by the Guild, I hear.”
“Intimacy coordinators are a crucial resource on any set to ensure the protection of our members working in intimate scenes,” a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson told Deadline of the new rules.
An intimacy coordinator may have legitimate reasons to discuss intimate scenes that occur on set off-camera, but such discussions would typically involve law enforcement or require explicit consent from both the actors and the production team.
Despite signing a confidentiality agreement with Lionsgate as part of her role in the film Miller’s Girl, Kristina Ariona spoke to the Daily Mail, disregarding the terms of the agreement.
‘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.
The Daily Mail explained, “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.”
While this is good behavior on set, making all of the information public is not, especially in this instance where the film was already being controversially discussed due to the intimacy.
According to Deadline, Arjona disclosed details about Wednesday star Ortega’s alleged involvement in planning the film’s sex scenes, despite the nondisclosure agreement (NDA). These scenes and the controversial premise of Miller’s Girl, which portrays an affair between Ortega’s 18-year-old character and Freeman’s 52-year-old teacher/mentor, have drawn criticism.
A rep for The Actor’s Guild said, “Intimacy coordinators should maintain the confidentiality of an actor’s work and experience in performing highly sensitive scenes unless they have the actor’s permission to publicly share this information. The public release of details about an actor’s scene work or confidences entrusted to the intimacy coordinator without the performer’s consent is unacceptable.”
Now, with stronger consequences on hand, actors can feel as if they are in a safer environment when they have to shoot intimate scenes on set.
At the moment, Ortega is gearing up to hop back into her iconic role of Wednesday Addams in the Netflix hit series Wednesday, and had recently wrapped up on the set of Beetlejuice 2 where she plays Lydia’s daughter. Wednesday will begin shooting in Ireland in April. A majority of season one’s cast will return, along with Tim Burton helming the ship. We do not know what the plot will be filled with; however, we do know that another character from The Addams Family that we have yet to meet (AKA not Morticia Addams, Gomez, Addams, Pugsley Addams, or anyone else who appeared in the first season) will be introduced.
The next season will also take a darker tone, with each episode resembling a movie, as producer Jenna Ortega confirmed. Instead of having standout episodes as season one did, each episode will be of equal value to viewers. We do not have a release date for the second season at this time.
What do you think of stricter rules being thrust upon intimacy coordinators?