Juliette Binoche Criticizes Intimacy Coordinators: “The Body Becomes a Puzzle and the Emotions Disappear”

The 62-year-old actress acknowledged that she understands why such roles exist, emphasizing that they are designed to protect performers. However, she suggested that actors still need to push beyond their comfort zones for romantic scenes to feel authentic and emotionally convincing.

“I have already been approached about this. The terminology becomes questions like: ‘Do you agree that he will touch you here?’ The body becomes a puzzle… It’s not as simple as just having an intimacy coordinator on set,” she said in an interview with The Guardian.

Juliette Binoche continued that love scenes should come from emotional necessity rather than technical planning. “When you shoot a love scene, it has to come from the heart, from the gut, from a need. And if you are thinking about the movement you are going to make instead of the feeling, then you are in a bad situation.”

She added that portraying lovers requires overcoming certain inhibitions about physical contact, arguing that actors must go beyond their comfort zones or risk making the performance feel inauthentic.

At the same time, she stressed that filming nude scenes is always difficult. “Every time you have to do nudity, it is always hard. You need to focus on why you are doing it so you don’t take it too hard. It really helps when you trust the director.”

Juliette Binoche also reflected on a painful experience early in her career, when she felt a director of the film Alice and Martin broke promises made before filming a nude scene.

Without going into detail, she said she felt “betrayed” and ultimately demanded that the footage be removed. She never worked with the director again.