Emily Osment has opened up about requesting an intimacy coordinator for her kissing scenes with Montana Jordan on “Young Sheldon.”
The actress, who was 30 when she joined the hit sitcom in season five, made the call after feeling uneasy about the age gap with Jordan, then 18, according to revelations in Jessica Radloff’s new book, “Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy.” Osment played weather presenter Mandy McAllister, who enters an unlikely romance with Georgie Cooper, Jordan’s character, despite their characters’ own 12-year age difference and Georgie’s initial lies about how old he really is.
“He was a baby,” Osment said of her younger co-star in the book. “A baby with a mullet.”
The actress took her concerns directly to producer Tim Marx. “So I spoke to [producer] Tim Marx, and obviously they were not able to get one that late in the day, but for the next few episodes they had one there, since the relationship between them escalates,” she explained. “It made everything easier having one there. I think it’s something that’s really important.”
Radloff, the book’s author, weighed in on the situation and noted that Jordan may not have even realized he could ask for the same support. “I don’t know if Montana even knew if he could ask for that,” she wrote. “Like, let’s give him the option, too. Make him comfortable,” Radloff added that Jordan’s accommodating nature might have kept him from speaking up himself. “And he’s such a sweet kid, I think he would just eat his discomfort,” she continued. “But I love those guys, and I’m really happy it got to the point where they were able to do that [for us].”
Alex Reid, who directed 36 episodes of the show, recalled a telling behind-the-scenes moment that underscored the awkwardness between the two performers. He had snapped a photo of Osment and Jordan sitting in a car between takes, both looking in opposite directions. “I showed it to Emily and she said, ‘Yeah, that was so uncomfortable for both of us, because we didn’t know each other,'” Reid recalled. “It wasn’t even about the lack of an intimacy coordinator. It’s just you’re having to make out with somebody you just kind of met.” Reid noted that the pair eventually worked through the initial discomfort and developed genuine on-screen chemistry, though he admitted those early days were “kind of embarrassing.”
Steve Molaro, co-creator of the series, backed Osment’s decision to request professional support. He noted that she had “every right” to ask for the assistance of a coordinator, who is experienced in navigating alternative dynamics.
The request proved prescient as Mandy and Georgie’s storyline intensified beyond initial expectations. What began as a fling turned into a pregnancy storyline that became a central thread of the series, meaning the physical and emotional demands on both actors only grew as their characters’ relationship deepened and evolved across subsequent seasons.
The conversation around intimacy coordinators has gained significant traction in television production in recent years, with performers increasingly advocating for their presence even in scenes that stop short of explicit content. Osment’s insistence on having one present for relatively mild material, kissing scenes with no sexual content, reflects a broader industry shift toward normalizing these professional boundaries regardless of scene intensity.
The revelations emerge as Radloff’s comprehensive behind-the-scenes book hits shelves, offering fans and industry observers alike a detailed look at the making of one of television’s most-watched comedies and the human negotiations that unfolded off-camera to bring its most complicated relationship to life.