Key Highlights:
- Victoria Smurfit recalled the awkward and brief direction given during her very first on-screen intimate sequence in her early 20s, highlighting how much production standards have evolved.
- The cast of the Disney+ drama series Rivals, including Aidan Turner and Emily Atack, credited intimacy coordinators for making complex, steamy scenes feel secure and professional.
- Co-stars Danny Dyer and Lisa McGrillis praised intimacy coordinator Kat Hardman for fostering on-set trust, confirming the dramatic shift from earlier eras of filming.
Having worked across film and television for the past three decades, Victoria Smurfit has experienced firsthand the dramatic evolution of film sets and production standards. Currently starring as Maud O’Hara in the hit Disney+ series Rivals, the 52-year-old actor has observed a profound cultural and structural transformation regarding how intimate scenes are directed and filmed. Reflecting on her extensive career—which includes acclaimed roles such as Orla O’Connell in Ballykissangel and Cruella de Vil in Once Upon a Time—Smurfit spoke about the marked contrast between shooting intimate material today versus the early days of her career.
Victoria Smurfit Recalls Her First On-Screen Sex Scene
Speaking alongside her Rivals co-stars Aidan Turner and Emily Atack, Smurfit noted that filming intimate scenes is ‘much easier now’ and ‘so much easier now’. Turner, who portrays her on-screen husband Declan O’Hara in the steamy comedy-drama, supported her assessment, stating: “It is different to the way it used to be.”
To illustrate the stark differences across eras, Smurfit revisited the ‘first time I ever had to a sex scene’ when she was starting out in the entertainment industry. Recounting the brief and baffling instructions she received at the time, she shared:
“I was in my very early 20s and the director went, ‘well, so um w-w-what we’re going to do is he’s going to lie on top and um do the – then he’s – then you’re gonna [ejaculate] and that’ll be it’,”
Smurfit recalled challenging the unrealistic staging of the moment, questioning the director directly on set:
“And I went ‘hang on a second, this is her first time, right?’ And he goes well ‘yes, she’s losing her virginity’, I’m like ‘and she’s gonna [finish]?’ And I remember thinking ‘that was the extent of the conversation’. So it’s very, very different now.”
How Intimacy Coordinators Are Reshaping Set Culture
Comparing modern intimacy on screen to executing a carefully rehearsed ‘stunt’, Smurfit and her fellow actors credited the widespread introduction of intimacy coordinators with reshaping on-set safety and professionalism. Emily Atack highlighted that the cast members ‘get on so well’, creating a supportive atmosphere where actors actively decompress together after filming demanding sequences.
“We do the business and then we’ll go on our lunch break and go, ‘how was it? Was that ok?’ And we all support each other,” Atack explained. “You know, it is weird doing that. But we have intimacy coordinators and also what I love is that they check in afterwards, which I think is really nice.”
Turner elaborated on the specialized technical and emotional expertise that intimacy professionals bring to current sets, contrasting it with past eras of filmmaking:
“You have somebody who is, their job is dedicated to these scenes and physically how do we tell a story and emotionally, they have a rhetoric and a vocabulary to use that maybe some directors in the past wouldn’t be so comfortable using or be aware to. You just tell the story in a different way, you have all these tools to do it and it’s not awkward.”
Atack agreed that the environment is ‘Totally different. And that feels good, it feels like we’re moving in the right direction, in that way.’ That perspective was echoed by fellow cast member Danny Dyer, who noted that earlier in his acting career, intimacy coordinators ‘just wasn’t a thing’ and performers ‘just had to get on with it really’.
Lisa McGrillis, who plays Dyer’s on-screen wife in the series, praised Rivals intimacy coordinator Kat Hardman as ‘amazing’ and ‘brilliant’. McGrillis emphasized: “If you know what the scene is and then you trust each other, you can just get on with it.”
Why This Matters
The reflections shared by the Rivals cast underscore a significant, industry-wide shift in television and film production over recent years. For decades, performers frequently had to navigate vulnerable and sexually explicit scenes with minimal guidance, arbitrary instructions, or inadequate support. The institutional adoption of dedicated intimacy coordinators—such as Kat Hardman—formalizes choreography, ensures clear physical boundaries, and establishes continuous consent, treating intimate performances with the same technical rigor and safety protocols historically reserved for action sequences and physical stunts.
Frequently Asked Questions
What role does Victoria Smurfit play in Disney+’s Rivals?
Victoria Smurfit portrays Maud O’Hara, the wife of Declan O’Hara (played by Aidan Turner), in the steamy Disney+ period comedy-drama series.
What happened during Victoria Smurfit’s first on-screen sex scene?
In her early 20s, Smurfit experienced minimal and awkward direction when a director bluntly outlined a brief, unrealistic scenario for a character losing her virginity, with Smurfit noting that the brief exchange was the entirety of the discussion before filming.
Who serves as the intimacy coordinator on Rivals?
Kat Hardman serves as the intimacy coordinator for the production, earning praise from cast members including Lisa McGrillis and Danny Dyer for facilitating clear communication, safety, and mutual trust on set.
