THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 71 NOVEMBER 13, 2019
Watch clips from this year’s Actress Roundtable at THR.COM/VIDEOa particular DP that was doing
all kinds of crazy stuff, shooting
up skirts, and our first AD had
to go over to the actress and say,
“Hey, just so you know, maybe you
want to check and see, because I
think the camera angle is going
to maybe not be something that
you’re comfortable with.” She
had no idea.
NYONG’O The difference now,
though, is that because of the
conversations that are happening
in public, it’s easier to tell when
something is inappropriate.
LOPEZ A little more empowered.
NYONG’O Because in that moment,
if the costume designer had said
something, it could’ve changed.
If she had supported you in some
way, had spoken up, it would have
changed the dynamic. So now we
are programming the younger
generation to know what’s OK and
what’s not. To know that it’s not
OK to be in a costume fitting and
for a man to ask that of you. Even
though those things might hap-
pen, our defense would be sharper
in those moments.
DERN I started auditioning at 10,
11 years old. I listen to the next
generation, saying, “People used
to have auditions in hotel rooms?”
I’m like, “Yeah, every single
time, waiting in the lobby of a
hotel and the director is wait-
ing for you in the room to have a
chemistry read.”
LOPEZ Yeah, it didn’t seem weird.
AWK WA F I NA You had reads and
auditions in hotel rooms?
DERN Oh, all the time.
ZELLWEGER Yeah, with a lot of
lady casting directors too, by the
way, but that was convenient ifthey were looking out of town
or whatever.
LOPEZ Actors’ houses.
ZELLWEGER Oh yeah, there’s that
too. I forgot about all that stuff.
LOPEZ And sometimes it was
not inappropriate at all. It was
totally professional. So it’s not
like you can put everybody in
that category.
ZELLWEGER No, it just kind of
afforded an opportunity to
be inappropriate if you were
so inclined.
NYONG’O But also now there are
intimacy coaches. I have not been
asked to do much nudity in my
career, but I’ve heard that now
they have intimacy coaches onset, which I think is really great.
When you have a fight scene, you
have a fight coordinator, why not
have an intimacy coordinator?
LOPEZ On Hustlers, we had a
comfort coach. It was basically
somebody who understood that
world and said, “These things
are OK,” and, “These things are
not OK.”
NYONG’O Oh, that’s good.
LOPEZ And made everybody on the
set comfortable with what they
were doing, because we had a lot
of women who were half-dressed
or naked, topless.
AWK WA F I NA Does that inti-
macy coach work for just
normal people?
DERN I was going to say, can we
get them as a wrap present?
AWK WA F I NA I’m really bad at eye
contact in my personal life, so I’d
love to talk to them.Interview edited for length
and clarity.LAURA
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