Ewan McGregor had an intimacy coordinator to help with sex scenes for his new drama – even though they were with his wife.
The actor (playing Count Rostov in the series) and Mary Elizabeth Wanstead (Count’s lover Anna Urbanova) both stripped off for Gentleman In Moscow, which is for streamer Paramount+. He told the Radio Times: “We did have an intimacy co-ordinator.
“It’s still necessary, because it’s also about the crew, and it’s odd to be naked in front of people, it’s odd to be intimate in front of the camera. If you were doing a dance scene, you’d have a choreographer.
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“It’s an important part of the work now, because it’s somebody that the director and actors meet in the middle.”
Ewan wants the acting industry to be safer for young stars.
The star, who has a 22-year-old daughter, said: “If an older, famous director goes to a 22-year-old and says, ‘I want you to be naked in this scene,’ that actress might feel: ‘Oh, my God, I’ve got to do it, my career might depend on it.’
“And then five years after that, she could look back and go, ‘I wish I hadn’t. Why am I naked in that scene? It’s unnecessary.’
“Now there’s somebody she talks to whose career doesn’t rest on the shoulders of this person.” Discussing the difference between their on-screen and off-screen relationship, he added: “To be in love and married to somebody, and then to get to play all those cold- shoulder scenes, was just hilarious”.
Ewan revealed that he had to get a perm for his role in the TV show, based on an Amor Towles’s novel of the same name. He told Vanity Fair: “I went down to London and got my hair permed, which is something I hadn’t done since the 90s, and then dyed it dark brown.
“The perm faded out and the colour faded a bit, and that was really conducive to his ageing.” Ewan plauys
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James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
