Sean Bean's Snowpiercer co-star Lena Hall has spoken out following the actor's controversial comments on the intimate scenes they filmed together.
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Speaking to The Times about his new drama Marriage, which also stars Nicola Walker and begins airing this weekend, the 63-year-old actor said he believes that intimacy coordinators "inhibit" and "ruin" the performance of actors during steamy scenes.
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He then went on to discuss the rather unusual love scene his character, Mr Wilford, had with Lena's Miss Audrey in season two of the dystopian drama involving a mango, describing it as "quite surreal, dream-like and abstract".
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When the interviewer pointed out to the Game of Thrones star that the role of intimacy coordinators is to make actors feel safe on set, he then said of his co-star: "I suppose it depends on the actress. This one had a musical cabaret background, so she was up for anything."
© Photo: NetflixSan Bean and Lena Hall shared some steamy scenes in the Netflix drama
Responding to Sean's words on Twitter, Lena stated: "Just because I am in theater (not cabaret, but I do perform them every once in a while) does not mean that I am up for anything."
She added that while Sean is "an awesome actor" who "made me feel not only comfortable but also like I had a true acting partner in those bizarre scenes," she thinks that the importance of intimacy coordinators shouldn't be overstressed.
She called them "a welcome addition to the set", adding: "Sometimes you need em [sic] sometimes you don't but every single person and scene and experience is different."
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"If I feel comfortable with my scene partner and with others in the room then I won't need an intimacy coordinator. BUT if there is any part of me that is feeling weird, gross, over exposed etc... I will either challenge the necessity of the scene or I'll want an IC," she said.
Sean's words have also prompted many other female stars to speak out, including Marvel star Jameela Jamil and West Side Story's Rachel Zegler, who filmed love scenes with 25-year-old Ansel Elgort when she was just 17.
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