The hit new show Mary & George dropped this week on TVNZ+ and you’re going to want to add it to your watch-list immediately. Starring Julianne Moore and Nicholas Galitzine (yes, the dude from The Idea of You with Anne Hathaway!) it follows the story of Julianne Moore leads Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham, who in 17th Century England moulded her beautiful son, George, to seduce King James I and become his all-powerful lover. Through outrageous scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become one of the richest, most titled, and influential mother and sons England had ever seen.
This drama series is WILD, with twists and turns and scheming and mayhem – and, a lot of sex scenes. Which brings us to this conversation with the Intimacy Coordinator of the show who explained to us exactly what an Intimacy Coordinator does, and how he went about doing his job on this particular show.
Working on stage and screen, Robbie Taylor Hunt has spent his career carefully choreographing intimate scenes in all forms of creative content. As an Intimacy Coordinator, his job is to ensure that everyone feels comfortable during those moments. With a particular interest in representations of LGBTQIA+ intimacy, Mary & George was an especially exciting project for him.
We caught up with him on set to talk about his role and the differences in coordinating intimate scenes for a Jacobean society.
What is an Intimacy Coordinator?
An Intimacy Coordinator is someone who facilitates and choreographs the intimate content for a show. The umbrella of intimate contact is very wide. Largely, we’re talking about simulated sex, nudity, kissing, bodily functions, childbirth and medical scenes. There’s a lot that falls within that. I’m here to make sure that everyone’s really clear and confident about what the intimate scenes are and to have those conversations beforehand, so everyone can turn up and know exactly what’s going to be happening. I advocate for the actor’s boundaries, and to creatively achieve what we want for the scenes, the characters and the story.
How do you prepare for a scene?
We have lots of conversations beforehand so that when we turn up on the day, everything’s pretty solid and already in place. First, I’ll have a look at the scripts and do a breakdown to make sure I flagged any moment of intimacy that’s involved, so that we’re all on the same page. I’ll have a chat with the director to make sure that I have a sense of what they’re imagining for the scene, how it’s going to be shot, and what they want to creatively achieve from it. Then I’ll speak with the actors about the script and what the director has spoken to me about, so that they can say ‘Hm, I’m a bit worried about this,’ or ‘I have questions about this.’ I can then facilitate those conversations so that they can be really clear with what they’re going to be agreeing to perform.
Did you have to do anything differently when you were choreographing these intimate scenes, compared to a contemporary set TV drama?
Working on a Jacobean show regarding intimacy definitely has bespoke special interest. We have costuming which is vastly different to a modern production. When it comes to undressing or a simulated sex scene, which includes some layers of clothing, we’ll have to liaise carefully with the wonderful costume team to make sure that we’re doing everything right, that there’s not going to be any surprise issue on the day and to make it look and feel realistic for what would be appropriate for those garments. Anything which says in the script ‘is in underwear’, in a modern script, I’d normally react by thinking ‘oh, that’s probably quite exposing’, but in a Jacobean script, they’re in Jacobean underwear, which is largely very covered. So those kinds of considerations, I have to know about. Another thing when we’re filming Jacobean intimacy, is that this is a different socio-cultural context, this is a different society, which has different ideas around sex and gender. We have to take that into account when we’re coming to tackle sex, how it’s shot and how the characters are going to be engaging in moments of sex and sexuality. So that’s partly how the production is navigating that and the Jacobean era.
Can you explain your involvement in one of the show’s intimate scenes?
So there was a kind of non-consensual stripping scene, where four of the Scottish Gentlemen of the Bedchamber accost George outside, strip him down and pluck out one of his pubic hairs. So obviously, the context of nonconsensual action means that we have some sensitivities there. The stripping action, exactly how far that was going to happen, was a conversation that had to be had. And then [I talked] to the brilliant Hair & Makeup team about the pubic hair and how that was going to be plucked – and not actually be our wonderful Nick’s pubic hair being plucked.
What was your first reaction when you read the scripts?
I was very excited and definitely wanted to work on it. I think sometimes when you have queer intimacy that isn’t modern day, it feels like a secretor we don’t know about it. Whereas in the show we see people fully expressing and finding a whole variety of sexual intimacy, which I think we’re rarely afforded on screen. It’s an exciting project to work on as an Intimacy Coordinator because the moments of sex and intimacy are pivotal to the characters.
What was it like working with the cast?
It’s been so wonderful working with the cast of Mary & George, they’re a really lovely team. Obviously, because of the nature of my role, I’ll work with a large array of people across the whole production, but I’ve yet to find a bad egg in the bunch. Everyone’s passionate about getting this project right and it feeling like something we can be proud of.
Finally, how important is the representation of queerness in television and other period dramas to you?
Well, another reason it’s so exciting to work on this project is around how the queer intimacy is constructed. It’s been so nice to work on something where there’s a broad approach to how we might tackle queerness. I think in TV and film historically there can be a tendency to limit how queer sex is presented in different ways, for different expressions of gender within queer sex. In Mary & George, we’re seeing a diverse way in which queer, in particular male, sex is presented.
