‘Babygirl’ Director Praises Intimacy Coordinators

In the A24 erotic workplace thriller Babygirl, Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson use a few moves that would make human resources blush.

Writer and director Halina Reijn recently explained that the presence of intimacy coordinator Lizzy Talbot allowed them to achieve “way more risky” sex scenes in the film, which is now playing in theaters.

“You can get more extreme sex scenes that look way more risky than when you’re thinking ‘no, let the actresses find out themselves,’” she told IndieWire. “That’s such a dated idea of what sexuality is and how to approach it. I really am against it.”

“I’m also against people who are saying, ‘No, my actors didn’t want an intimacy coordinator.’ That makes no sense. It is also for your safety as a director and for everyone. What if there is a misunderstanding? It’s just amazing to have a person like that on set. And if you are creative and talented enough of a director, you can pull it off. Trust me. You just have to go a little bit through your own discomfort and then you will discover a whole new world of creativity and possibilities,” added Reijn.

The interview comes after Anora star Mikey Madison revealed that she and co-star Mark Eidelstein opted not to use an intimacy coordinator in the Sean Baker film.

Babygirl stars Kidman as Romy, a high-powered CEO who puts her life’s work on the line when she begins a torrid affair with her much-younger intern Samuel (Dickinson).

Kidman previously said, “There’s a sort of a jump off the cliff thing where you go, okay, I’m just going to abandon everything and explore this with the people that I trust in a genre that is already set, but hopefully we can explore new territory and especially with the female at the helm.

“You have your director at the helm going, ‘I will protect you. Nothing that’s going to be in the film will be anything that you are not comfortable with. You are going to be okay,’” she told People.