Caitriona Balfe explains how having an intimacy coordinator changed Outlander

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Caitriona Balfe explains how having an intimacy coordinator changed Outlander
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Transcript

00:00 Catriona Balfe explains how having an intimacy coordinator changed Outlander.

00:04 Prior to the Hollywood actor strike, Outlander star Catriona Balfe spoke on a panel at the

00:09 ATX TV Festival about how hiring an intimacy coordinator helped the series.

00:13 Outlander is known for its hot and steamy love scenes.

00:16 Surprisingly, there wasn't always an intimacy coordinator on set.

00:20 So, Balfe and Sam Heughan, Janie Fraser, were doing all those sex scenes on their own.

00:25 I can't say I'm shocked, but wow good for them.

00:27 Despite how great Balfe and Heughan were at bringing those raunchy sex scenes to life,

00:31 the creative team ultimately decided to bring on intimacy coordinator Vanessa Coffey.

00:36 And according to Balfe, it only helped.

00:38 Outlander hired an intimacy coordinator and they liked it.

00:41 When Balfe heard that an intimacy coordinator was being added to the team, she was skeptical

00:45 about it.

00:46 We've also started working with the most incredible intimacy coordinator and it's

00:49 amazing.

00:50 Because I probably was one of the people like, "I don't think we need that."

00:53 We've been doing this asterisk asterisk to ourselves and figuring it out for a while,"

00:57 Balfe said.

00:58 But actually I think it's been so beneficial and it's helped us and there are other scenes

01:02 with other characters, some I've been involved in, and some with our younger actors too.

01:07 It helps you create the storytelling in a way where everybody's on board.

01:10 Everybody knows exactly what's happening.

01:12 We're all on the same page.

01:14 Just like you would do with fight coordination or whatever and it's really helped.

01:18 Vanessa Coffey is such an amazing addition to our family as well.

01:21 She's just been really great.

01:23 One of the most interesting things about Coffey is that this wasn't her line of work before.

01:27 Prior to working as an intimacy coordinator, Coffey was a corporate lawyer.

01:31 However, she left that life behind and became an actress and then a movement director.

01:35 She later studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where she ended up consulting

01:39 on projects that involved intimate content and material.

01:41 Her journey may not have been conventional, but it has led her to work on shows like Outlander,

01:46 Wednesday, The Witcher, and Viking, Valhalla, amongst others, so it worked out.

01:51 Given how passionately believable the sex scenes have been of late on Outlander, I'd

01:55 say Coffey made the right decision in changing careers.

01:58 Keep up the amazing work!

01:59 As Outlander marks a decade since it first started filming, Daily Express looks back

02:03 at how the show initially came together.

02:05 In an exclusive interview with Daily Express, Outlander's legendary casting director,

02:10 Suzanne Smith, who has also worked on Band of Brothers, Carnival Row, and Good Omens,

02:14 among many other films and TV shows, shed light on how Balfe ended up playing Claire.

02:19 While Sam Heughan's casting was a breeze, Balfe's own path to become the show's

02:23 narrator and lead was anything but easy and the star was one of the last ones to be cast

02:27 weeks before filming was due to start.

02:29 At the time, Balfe was something of an unknown after roles in The Beauty Inside and 8 Plus.

02:34 Smith said, "It was a very, very long search, and as you know, and as the fans know, she

02:40 was definitely the last to audition and be up.

02:42 Again, we searched worldwide.

02:44 Her agent had sent an audition and I left it on my desktop."

02:47 The casting director gave some notes and Balfe reshot the tape with the star-winning Smith

02:51 and the producers over.

02:52 Balfe was quickly put up for a chemistry read with Heughan in LA and sealed the deal for

02:57 the actor.

02:58 Smith reflected, "Sometimes it's the first and sometimes it's the last and the stars

03:02 aligned.

03:03 Casting is such an interesting job because I know the fans.

03:05 They always say who they like, who they envisage in the role because the books are so vivid

03:09 and when you read things you do imagine who's playing the roles and who you see.

03:13 I always find it quite interesting who they think should be the roles because it doesn't

03:17 always work that way because actors are not always available, have the money for them.

03:21 Big, big stars.

03:22 So, it was so lucky.

03:23 They did the chemistry read and the chemistry was there.

03:26 That was the most important thing, especially when it's a love story, is to have that

03:29 chemistry between our leads and they're such good friends."

03:32 Smith added, "I can't believe we'd done seven seasons.

03:35 It's amazing.

03:36 We're going to do an eighth."

03:37 Since finding fame on Outlander, Balfe's career has flourished with the star winning

03:41 critical acclaim in Sir Kenneth Brenna's Oscar-winning film Belfast and Le Mans 66,

03:47 which also took home Academy Awards.

03:49 Both she and Heughan have also stepped up to become executive producers on Outlander.

03:53 Balfe has even taken to the director's chair for the second half of season 7, part 2 to

03:58 helm episodes.

03:59 Moreover, she will again be donning the mantle of director for the eighth and final installment,

04:03 balancing it with her responsibilities as dual lead.

Caitriona Balfe explains how having an intimacy coordinator changed Outlander

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