The erotic thriller Miller’s Girl finally landed in Netflix last week and has already sparked quite a bit of controversy: its main protagonists Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega share an age difference of 31 years.
Although Ortega has not spoken publicly about the speech about their age difference, Freeman defended the film, claiming that it does not glamorize the relationship it depicts.
“[It’s] adult and nuanced. It’s not saying, ‘Isn’t that cool?’” he told the UK newspaper.The timesin a recent interview, calling the controversy “a disgrace.”
The comedy-drama stars Ortega as 18-year-old Cairo Sweet, a college student who develops a flirtatious relationship with writer and professor Jonathan Miller (Freeman). Her relationship comes to a head after she writes a sexual story for a writing assignment in her class.
Freeman compared the film to schindler’s listthe 1993 drama about industrialist Oskar Schindler, who protected his factory’s Jewish employees from persecution by the Nazis during World War II.
“Are we going to try Liam Neeson for being in a Holocaust movie?” Freeman said The times.
According to Kristina Arjona, the intimacy coordinator who worked on the film, Ortega was “very sure of what she wanted to do” when filming intimate scenes with Freeman.
He added: “I am very conscious of my talent and making sure that we are constantly checking and that at no time are its limits exceeded. And again, making sure, especially with someone who is significantly younger, that you are giving continued consent.”
Shortly after Arjona made headlines with that interview, the Screen Actors Guild established new guidelines prohibiting intimacy coordinators from speaking about their work without the express approval of the actors involved.
Henew standardsstates: “Intimacy coordinators must maintain the confidentiality of an actor’s work and experience in performing highly sensitive scenes, unless they have the actor’s permission to share this information publicly. “The public disclosure of details about an actor’s stage work or confidences entrusted to the privacy coordinator without the actor’s consent is unacceptable.”
Violation of these new guidelines could put Intimacy Coordinators at risk of being removed from the Guild register.
Miller’s Girl now streaming on Netflix.
