Sean Bean says he believes intimacy coordinators spoil 'the spontaneity' of sex scenes

Sean Bean is not shy about his feelings on intimacy coordinators on set.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, the Game of Thrones alum got candid about shooting intimate scenes, revealing that he believes having the coordinators there will "spoil the spontaneity" of such moments. (In 2018, in the wake of the #MeToo movement, HBO announced it was hiring intimacy coordinators to oversee sex scenes on all shows and films.)

"It would inhibit me more because it's drawing attention to things," Bean explained. "Somebody saying, 'Do this, put your hands there while you touch his thing.' "

"I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise," he noted. Citing the scenes he shot with Joely Richardson for 1993's Lady Chatterly's Lover as "a joy" because it was a time when he was allowed to be "spontaneous."

"We knew what we were doing was unusual. Because she was married, I was married. But we were following the story. We were trying to portray the truth of what D.H. Lawrence wrote."

Jeff Spicer/Getty Sean Bean

However, according to Bean that's not all that ruins spontaneity in intimate onscreen moments. The actor says censorship often kills the mood, as well, pointing to his Snowpiercer scenes with Lena Hall, wherein the two become intimate with the aid of a mango. "I think they cut a bit out actually," he said of the scene. "Often the best work you do, where you're trying to push the boundaries, and the very nature of it is experimental, gets censored when TV companies or the advertisers say it's so much. It's a nice scene, quite surreal, dream-like and abstract. And mango-esque."

Many actors in recent years have spoken out about the benefits of having an intimacy coordinator on set. West Side Story breakout star Rachel Zegler took to her Twitter to call out Bean's comments on Monday. "Intimacy coordinators establish an environment of safety for actors," she wrote. "I was extremely grateful for the one we had on [West Side Story] — they showed grace to a newcomer like myself + educated those around me who've had years of experience."

She concluded her message, "Spontaneity in intimate scenes can be unsafe. Wake up."

Bean is not the only GoT star in recent days to talk about sex scenes. On Friday, Matt Smith, who stars in HBO prequel series House of the Dragon, told Rolling Stone U.K. he has "slightly too much" sex in the forthcoming show.

"You do find yourself asking, 'Do we need another sex scene?'" Smith said. "And they're like, 'Yeah, we do.' I guess you have to ask yourself: 'What are you doing? Are you representing the books, or are you diluting the books to represent the time [we're living in]?' And I actually think it's your job to represent the books truthfully and honestly, as they were written."

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