TV boss slams Gwyneth Paltrow’s intimacy coordinator remarks as ‘irresponsible’

Former Channel 4 drama head Caroline Hollick said intimacy coordinators ‘empower’ actors

Gwyneth Paltrow’s recent remarks about intimacy coordinators have been criticized by former Channel 4 drama chief Caroline Hollick, describing the actor’s comments as “quite an irresponsible thing to say.”

Last week, Paltrow said she had refused to work with an intimacy coordinator for her latest movie – even though she and Timothée Chalamet filmed “a lot of sex.”

The pair recently filmed Josh Safdie’s new movie, Marty Supreme, about table tennis star Marty Reisman.

“There’s now something called an intimacy coordinator, which I did not know existed,” Paltrow told Vanity Fair.

Paltrow explained that when Marty Supreme’s intimacy coordinator asked her if she was comfortable with doing a certain move, she responded: “Girl, I’m from the era where you get naked, you get in bed, the camera’s on.” She said she ultimately asked the coordinator to “step a little bit back.”

According to Variety, Hollick, who now works for production company North Road, said at drama festival Series Mania: “Every now and then an actor makes a comment over whether they like intimacy coordinators or not. Gwyneth Paltrow said she grew up in a time when [actors] ‘took our kit off and got on with it.’

Gwyneth Paltrow and Timothée Chalamet (Getty)

“As a powerful woman in Hollywood acting with a man much younger than her, well I’m sure [Chalamet] is chill but I thought it was quite an irresponsible thing to say.”

Hollick continued: “Bringing an intimacy coordinator on set empowers an actor because there is someone on side who is there to fight for them.

“Producers have an agenda, writers have an agenda and directors have an agenda. So having someone to back the performer is important.”

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

During her time at Channel 4, Hollick oversaw hit shows including It’s a Sin, Help and The Gathering.

Along with Chalamet, Paltrow’s sports drama — expected to be released in December — has a star-studded cast, including Fran Drescher, Tyler, the Creator, and Abel Ferrara. Paltrow plays the wife of Marty Reisman (portrayed by Chalamet), a professional table tennis player who won the US men’s singles championships in 1958 and 1960.

“This woman is married to someone who is in the Ping-Pong mafia, as it were,” Safdie told Vanity Fair. “They meet and she’s had a pretty tough life, and I think he breathes life back into her, but it’s kind of transactional for them both.”

In October, Paltrow turned heads when she was seen filming a passionate kissing scene with Chalamet for the film while on location in New York City.