Ewan McGregor had to have intimacy coordinator for sex scenes with his wife

Intimacy on screen isn’t always as natural and raunchy as it looks, even when it comes to real-life married couples.

If you’re a fan of racy scenes, I bet you didn’t know that there is a specific role dedicated to making sex look real and the actors comfortable throughout.

This is the very important role of an intimacy coordinator.

Now, intimacy coordinators aren’t just for the novices, even big-time A listers need to use them too to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that everything included in the scene is consented upon.

Such was the case with Ewan McGregor, who used one of the coordinators on set for sex scenes with his wife, Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

The Scottish actor is starring in a new film with Winstead called A Gentleman in Moscow.

The 52-year-old married his wife in 2022 and share a son together who was born in 2021.

Even though the pair are together in real life, McGregor welcomed an intimacy coordinator to oversee their scenes.

Getty Images / Roy Rochlin / Stringer

He told the Radio Times during an interview: “It’s still necessary, because it’s also about the crew, and it’s odd to be naked in front of people, it’s odd to be intimate in front of the camera.

“If you were doing a dance scene, you’d have a choreographer. It’s an important part of the work now, because it’s somebody that the director and actors meet in the middle.”

McGregor also noted that intimacy coordinators are a form of protection for young actors who might not understand that they have the power to say no to a scene which feels uncomfortable, or nudity.

Such as the case with his 22-year-old daughter, Esther, who is also an actor.

He explained: “My daughter [Esther] is 22. If an older, famous director goes to a 22-year-old and says, ‘I want you to be naked in this scene,’ that actress might feel, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve got to do it, my career might depend on it’.

“And then five years after that, she could look back and go, ‘I wish I hadn’t. Why am I naked in that scene?

Disney

"It’s unnecessary.’ Now there’s somebody she talks to whose career doesn’t rest on the shoulders of this person.”

McGregor has previously shared his thoughts on filming sex scenes and admitted as early as 2011 that he found them 'awkward' to shoot.

Speaking during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, the actor said: “I don’t like them very much. They are awkward because it is a strange and bizarre thing to be doing.

"It’s not a normal situation, I am 40 now, and the actresses get younger and younger.”

Topics: Ewan McGregor, TV and Film, Sex and Relationships, Celebrity

Britt Jones