Standards and Protocols for Intimacy Coordinators Tightened By SAG-AFTRA

The "Additional Requirements" in the Standards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinators reads:

"Intimacy coordinators should maintain the confidentiality of an actor’s work and experience in performing highly sensitive scenes unless they have the actor’s permission to publicly share this information. The public release of details about an actor's scene work or confidences entrusted to the intimacy coordinator without the performer's consent is unacceptable."

Speaking to Deadline, a spokesperson for SAG-AFTRA said, "Intimacy coordinators are a crucial resource on any set to ensure the protection of our members working in intimate scenes."

The Guild's updated rules ensures the "confidentiality" of actors is paramount, especially when intimacy coordinators have a professional need to speak about intimate scenes publicly.

The recent addition to Intimacy Coordinators' protocols follow recent backlash towards Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman's intimate scene in their new film Miller's Girl, per USA Today.

Social media users who had seen the film, slammed the 31-year age gap of the actors --- Ortega is 21-years-old and Freeman is 52-years-old -- with some branding the X-rated scene as "gross" and "uncomfortable".

The film's intimacy coordinator, Kristina Arjona spoke in detail about the processes on set and assured the public that the costars were "comfortable" when filming.

"There [were] many, many people throughout this process engaging with [Ortega] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do," Arjona told The Daily Mail.

Arjona added that part of the role of an intimacy coordinator is to support her actors "decisions" and "adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors."

"Especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors," Arjona continued. "I'm hyper aware of both of my talent and making sure that we're consistently checking in and that at no point are any of their boundaries being surpassed."

Per Deadline, the new rules may dictate that an intimacy coordinator who fails to adhere to these protocols "could potentially" be removed from SAG-AFTRA's registry.