“Normal People” Stars Discuss Working With an Intimacy Coach

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: You had an intimacy coach on the set. And this is becoming quite sort of usual now in various films like this. Can you just tell me, from your perspective, Daisy, what that did, how that helped? And is there sort of a post MeToo aspect to it about consent and boundaries? Just how did that help you?

DAISY EDGAR-JONES, ACTRESS, “NORMAL PEOPLE”: I mean, it was incredible. I mean, we had Ita O’Brien, who sort of — she worked for “Sex Education,” so she sort of she’d worked with young people before, the show “Sex Education.” So she was amazing, because, Paul and I, we were both very new to filming those scenes, and they are so integral to the story, it was really important to do them justice. And she just created an environment that was incredibly safe. And there was no pressure involved. And we always knew that we were able to be honest. If we weren’t comfortable with anything, we were never going to be pushed, and the same with Lenny and the director and all the crew were — created such a lovely environment for us. And, yes, I mean, definitely, I think that I cannot imagine doing those scenes without one. And I really think that that has to be the gold standard, because it’s a very vulnerable place to put yourself in. And to know that you have someone who is looking out for you and looking after you and making sure that you’re safe ultimately makes the work better. And I think, yes, it’s incredibly important that that becomes the norm from now on.

AMANPOUR: Can I ask you, Paul, how you dealt with that? And, I mean, I guess you had also never come across an intimacy coach. You hadn’t had, I don’t think, those kinds of scenes in your past. And there’s a lot of sex scenes. We’re not allowed to show them on this television. But it’s all part of the story, and none of it seems gratuitous. And you said about the key one: “It’s not clinical. It’s loving and romantic and sexy, because you see two minds coming together.” Just talk about that, and also about how you reacted to having an intimacy coach on set.

PAUL MESCAL, ACTOR: Yes, I suppose the refreshing thing, personally, that I find about “Normal People” is that the intimacy is both physically sexual. But the thing that I think really excites both the characters is the way in which their brains work. And I think, when you have intimate scenes that require that level of detail, you have to shoot it in a different way. And I think you have got to really invest in the intimacy between Connell and Marianne to really get the payoff at the end of the story. And I think, for me, obviously, I totally agree with Daisy. The idea of the intimate scenes is a far more — the idea of doing them was a far more kind of nerve-wracking experience than actually the process.