Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche has spoken about how she feels when intimacy coordinators are involved in filming intimate scenes.
In an interview with the Guardian while promoting her directorial debut, In-I In Motion, Binoche weighed up whether the growing use of intimacy coordinators on sets is ultimately helpful or not.
Intimacy coordinators are trained specialists working across film, television and theatre to support performers and help stage scenes that involve nudity, simulated sex, or heightened emotional and physical vulnerability.
The role is designed to keep things professional and consensual, often acting as a go-between for actors and directors while mapping out what will and won’t happen — in the same way fight sequences are planned with stunt teams.
Other major actors have previously argued the job can be vital. Kate Winslet, for example, has said she would have appreciated that kind of support earlier in her career, explaining: “It would have been nice to have had someone in my corner, because I always had to stand up for myself.”
Binoche, however, suggested she isn’t entirely sold on how intimacy coordination can work in practice.
Discussing her vérité documentary In-I In Motion — which follows her 2008 dance collaboration with Akram Khan — she told The Guardian: “I’ve been approached about that. The vocabulary is all: ‘Are you agreeing that he touches this?’
“The body becomes a puzzle…It’s not as simple as having an intimacy coordinator on set. When you’re in a love scene it needs to come from the heart, the guts, the need.”
She did acknowledge that intimacy coordinators could be particularly valuable for younger or less experienced actresses, but indicated that her own approach — and the approach taken in In-I In Motion — leaned more toward something instinctive and unfiltered.
The actor also argued that bringing in additional structure can come at a cost, suggesting it may interfere with how real an intimate moment feels on screen.
She said: “If you’re thinking of the movement you’re going to do and not of the feeling, you’re in a bad situation.
“When you’re embodying lovers, you overcome some fears of touching bodies.
“You really have to go beyond your comfort zone because otherwise you become a prude and not truthful to what’s happening in life.”
Elsewhere in the industry, opinions continue to differ. Jennifer Lawrence has said she didn’t use an intimacy coordinator while filming intimate scenes with Robert Pattinson for their 2025 film Die My Love. Florence Pugh has also shared a more complicated view — saying she has had experiences that were ‘fantastic” and ‘effective’, but also others she described as ‘shit’, where the process made scenes “weird and awkward”.
Winslet, meanwhile, has remained one of the strongest advocates for the role, reiterating that these professionals can add safety and reassurance, and reduce the burden on actors to constantly defend their own boundaries during intimate work.