No, House of Gucci and our chaotic press tour queen Lady Gaga never won an award at the last Oscars. However, if there had been a golden statuette for intimacy coaches, perhaps it would have gone to Bronagh McAuley, the professional making sure both Mother Monster and Adam Driver were comfortable during that iconic scene in the movie (where the former is being passionately dicked down on an office desk by the latter).
Ethical porn director Erika Lust is calling on the Academy Awards to add an award for intimacy coaches in future ceremonies. “There are Oscars for costume design, interior decoration and hair and make-up. In an industry where sex sells, recognising the critical role of intimacy coaches with an award category would be a powerful and timely statement by the Academy,” she shared in a statement.
Erika has worked on over 300 adult films since 2004 that put consent and the wellbeing of all the actors involved front and centre. “Porn is a dirty word for many, but as a female director in a still predominantly male-dominated porn industry, just like Hollywood, I bet Hollywood could learn from the ethical standards and expectations we place on set to protect cast members from exploitation, misogyny and degrading behaviour.”
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Recently, sex scenes in film and TV have become the subject of much online discourse, after users on TikTok and Twitter argued that they often did little for the plot and can make them feel uncomfortable. The conversation has been fuelled by the honest confessions of actors’ experiences. You star Penn Badgeley made headlines recently when he explained that season four of the hit Netflix show had less sex scenes because he wanted to feel faithful to his partner; while in a 2022 interview, Sydney Sweeney admitted she has wanted to scrub her skin off after sex scenes for past projects made her uncomfortable. While she wasn’t talking about Euphoria, she has been said to have asked creator Sam Levinson to remove much of her character’s unnecessary nudity from the script. He obliged. Discourse, too, has been stirred around the violent sex scenes in the contentious Blonde and reported rape-fantasy scenes planned for the upcoming series The Idol; although both Ana de Armas and Lily-Rose Depp have said that they felt comfortable during filming.
All of these experiences speak to the importance of having regular consent checks and open conversations between all involved in sex scenes regarding what they’re comfortable with. After Game of Thrones actor Sean Bean commented that intimacy coaches can sometimes spoil spontaneity between actors, other stars such as Emma Thompson, Sydney Sweeney, Bridgerton’s Simone Ashley and more have defended the importance of the role in maintaining a safe environment.
“From its earliest day, the mainstream film industry has been tainted and shaped by male-dominated exploitation,” continues Erika. “That includes everything from the notorious casting couch to improper conduct by actors and directors towards cast members, forcing them to perform scenes they had not consented to. The MeToo movement has seen women strike back and intimacy coaches are a key step in ensuring directors and actors convey sex, sexual pleasure and nudity with consent, care, and free of exploitation.” Perhaps the world’s most prestigious film awards recognising the importance of those making sex scenes in movies fun and enjoyable for all could go a long way in changing the culture in Hollywood.