Michael Douglas Is the Latest Actor To Make Controversial Remarks About Intimacy Coordinators

Intimacy coordinators on TV and film sets have been a hot topic in Hollywood ever since the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, introduced the role in 2018 after performers stepped forward to discuss their sexual harassment situations in the #MeToo era. Some of these issues shockingly arose on set while they were filming nude scenes — an already vulnerable moment with co-workers. Michael Douglas is the latest actor to enter the fray and give his opinion, and it’s not the response fans were hoping for.

The 79-year-old actor starred in quite a few sexually charged films, including Basic Instinct, Indecent Proposal, and Fatal Attraction. The sex scenes pushed the boundaries when they were released in the late 1980s and 1990s, and it might have been helpful to have a crew member guiding the choreography for those moments. However, Douglas has a different thought about the relatively new on-set role. “I’m sure there were people that overstepped their boundaries, but before, we seemed to take care of that ourselves. They would get a reputation and that would take care of them,” Douglas claimed to The Telegraph.

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That seems like a noble notion, but during the height of his fame, Douglas had incredible Hollywood power. That’s not the same situation Sharon Stone was in when she headlined Basic Instinct with him, she’s even discussed how uncomfortable her panty-less scene in the movie made her feel. But Douglas is doubling down on his thought they intimacy coordinators aren’t necessarily needed now or then. “But I talked to the ladies, [because] I did a few of those sex movies – sexual movies – and we joke about it now, what it would have been like to have an intimacy coordinator working with us…” he trailed off.

Douglas isn’t the only one with this opinion in Hollywood. Actor Sean Bean caught heat in 2022 for revealing that intimacy coordinators “spoil the spontaneity” and “inhibit [him] more because it’s drawing attention to things.” He told the Times Magazine, “I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.” It’s not just the men who have voiced their controversial opinions on the topic, Jennifer Aniston sparked an online debate after she and Jon Hamm chose not to use an intimacy coordinator for a very hot sex seen on The Morning Show last year.

Aniston said she’s from “the olden days” when that crew position didn’t exist, but fans jumped on social media to remind her why this attitude is wrong. One user wrote, “The irony of playing the role of a talk show host who ignored her co-hosts sexually predatory behavior not getting why an intimacy coordinator should be encouraged by and how it empowers actors without her clout, wrote one critic. The debate about intimacy coordinators continues, but the role is a crucial one for safety — not only for the actors but also for the crew who is filming the scene.

Before you go, click here to see actors who have spoken out about pressure to get naked for a role.

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