ITV ‘intimacy coach’ was so young she put me off my sex scenes
ACTOR Jamie Bamber admits he struggled to film steamy scenes in his latest drama because the intimacy coach was closer in age to his teenage daughters than himself.
In the new series of ITV drama Innocent, he has a raunchy encounter with co-star Priyanga Burford.
But Jamie, 48, says he was put off by the coach on set guiding them through the filming of the intimate scene because she was so much younger than him.
The Law & Order star said: “I’ve done a fair few of these scenes over the years but I have never had an intimacy coordinator before.
Grateful
“I was more thrown because she was half our age and really earnest, she was really into it and sort of gung-ho.
He joked: “I thought I should have a coordinator between me and the intimacy coordinator just to be safe!”
Jamie said of the sex coach: “She’s not much older than my daughters so that actually threw me.”
“Pri was amazing, like all good women she took charge, very clear about what she needed and wanted to feel comfortable and I was grateful for that.” Jamie has three daughters, Isla, 17, and 16-year-old twins Darcy and Ava.
Priyanga adds of their sex scene on stairs: “We both just wore really big pants, which made us feel really secure and safe. Jamie had his girdle on, so all good.”
Intimacy coordinators have been increasingly used by the film and TV industry in recent years to ensure actors feel comfortable on set.
They are also used to choreograph scenes to help make them appear more realistic.
Priyanga added: “With any love scene, or anything sexual and intimate, it needs to be specific. You need to understand what that sex is about between those two people at that point in their relationship.
“We talked about that and there was a certain amount of choreography that went on. There was an intimacy coordinator there. It was just a lot of talking and figuring it out.”
The four-part series, which also stars former Coronation Street actress Katherine Kelly, returns tonight to ITV at 9pm and continues this week.
Guilty
The Lake District drama follows schoolteacher Sally Wright (Kelly), who leaves prison after being convicted of murdering Matty Taylor, a 16-year-old pupil she was accused of having an affair with.
Jamie plays Sam, Sally’s ex-husband. He said: “Everyone in this small community has decided that she’s guilty and turned their back on her, Sam more than anyone.
“The story really asks the question who is innocent in all of this?”
The first series, which starred Hermione Norris and Lee Ingleby, aired in 2018.