Fair City star Maria Oxley Boardman urged RTE bosses to consider hiring intimacy coordinators to oversee the soap’s saucy scenes.
The actress is best- known as Carrigstown’s Dearbhla Dillon, who has had her fair share of scandalous storylines. She said bosses have always put her at “ease” when shooting romantic scenes, but feels an intimacy coordinator would be a welcome addition to the team.
She added: “I think it is so, so important. I think you know when people talk about intimacy some people immediately think of, ‘Ah there will be sex and how are we going to coordinate this’. But it kind of comes down to all kinds of intimacy.
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“It could be a row, kissing, it could be just standing this close to somebody. And I think now that there is an awareness of actors’ levels of comfort in any of those things, that there is a huge range of intimate scenes.
“We don’t [have one] but I think it would be an interesting thing to consider. I have to say though, we have some really good floor managers who kind of help to put you at ease.
“When you have to kiss somebody at the beginning when you read it you are like, ‘Oh there’s the kiss’ you know. But I have only worked with people that I have felt comfortable with and there has been a discussion about it but I can imagine it is not always that way.”
Actor Sean Bean, who played Ned Stark on Game of Thrones recently told the Times of London Sunday Magazine he is not a fan of intimacy coordinators as he fears they would “spoil the spontaneity” of scenes. Maria, who hails from Milltown Pass, Co Westmeath, has been working on Fair City for more than three years, alongside her job as a pharmacist.
And as life has slowly returned to normal, she said filming on the soap is also slowly returning to more relaxed pre-pandemic protocols. She said: “There are still restrictions in place but they are slowly easing up.
“We have been back on sets that we haven’t been on in a long time which is really exciting. And there are more extras and being filled out with more characters involved in scenes and all which is great.”
The Dublin-based star was speaking at RTE’s new season launch. The performer teased about the dramatic scenes which will unfold to coincide with the soap’s 33rd anniversary next month.
She said: “There is always a big saucy and exciting storyline coming up around that time. It involves beloved characters and maybe some characters that we don’t know so well yet. And I think that it is one that the audience are going to be on the edge of their seats for.”
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