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Anora actress Mikey Madison is receiving backlash for revealing she decided not to use an intimacy coordinator to help her with the film's intimate scenes. During her discussion with Pamela Anderson for Variety's Actors On Actors series, The Last Showgirl star asked Mikey:
"Did you have an intimacy coordinator? That's the big thing these days, right?"
Mikey replied:
"For our film, it was a choice that I made that the filmmakers offered to me, if I wanted to bring on an intimacy coordinator or not."
However, Mikey said she and her co-star Mark Eydelshteyn, who plays Ivan "Vanya" Zakharov in the film, decided to "keep it small" between the two of them, the film's director Sean Baker, and his wife and producing partner Samantha Quan. Mikey said this way they were able to film the intimate scenes quickly.
However, Mikey Madison's stance on not using an intimacy coordinator was critiqued by several people online. Some of the criticism was in direct reference to the Brian Jordan Alvarez controversy.
The English Teacher creator and actor was recently accused of s*xually assaulting his former co-star Jon Ebeling while filming a scene for their 2016 web series The Gay and Wonderous Life of Caleb Gallo.
Netizens criticized Mikey Madison as the significance of requiring an intimacy coordinator on set in this day and age was stressed even more after Alvarez's controversy. Some noted that the presence of intimacy coordinators should be mandatory on set to prevent actors from getting s*xually assaulted by their co-stars or directors.
"Quite the coincidence! Both stories definitely spark important conversations about boundaries and creative choices," noted one X user.
However, some defended Mikey and argued everyone should respect her decision.
Mikey Madison explains why she did not require an intimacy coordinator
As Mikey Madison spoke to Pamela Anderson for the Variety series, she relayed Anora director Sean Baker's notion about the film having "less s*x scenes and more s*x shots."
She opined the intimate scenes in the film carried some humor in them, and it was "a very positive experience" for her. Mikey explained she wanted to align with Baker's other works where authenticity is a staple.
The young actress reasoned she wanted to immerse herself in that essence for Anora as she plays the titular character, a s*x worker. Mikey continued:
"I was ready for it. It requires a lot of her body and her skin. I think that, like I've said it before, but I think she wears her nudity more like a costume in a way. She presents herself in this sort of hypers*xualized way because it’s how she makes a living."
Mikey said that as an actress, she approached the role as a job to make it look more realistic.
