News & Press: Press

By Anna Russell

The series was directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald, and adapted by Alice Birch, Mark O’Rowe, and Rooney herself, which might explain why it hews so faithfully to the novel. Rooney has sometimes likened writing sex scenes to writing dialogue, in the sense that every beat counts. The same care is evident onscreen, where every fumbling and tentative caress seems heavy with meaning. These scenes were achieved with the help of Ita O’Brien, an intimacy coördinator who also worked on Netflix’s “Sex Education.” O’Brien helped the actors to discuss things frankly, and to avoid euphemisms. “She would say, ‘We’ll just discuss exactly what the emotional beats are here,’ ” Edgar-Jones said. “The whole point of those scenes is never to have just a moment for the sake of it. They’re always carrying on some form of narrative.”

O’Brien also helped with the physical logistics, Mescal added. Sometimes, to get a scene right, Mescal would need to hold himself in a kind of plank above Edgar-Jones for minutes on end, his arms locked out, sweat dripping from his nose. (“That was really great,” Edgar-Jones joked.) “There was this wonderful thing where she would use her hands,” Mescal said, of O’Brien, holding up his hands to demonstrate. “She’d be like, ‘So, Paul, I need you to give more thrust!’ ” Edgar-Jones made the same motion with her hands, and they both burst into laughter.

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About the show

BY: TANIS SMITHER

​One of the other triumphs of Normal People in its portrayal of sex is the relatively equal ratio of female-to-male nudity created by directors Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald. There is little doubt that the involvement of Ita O’Brien, Normal People’s on-set intimacy coordinator (a profession that has exploded in popularity and necessity in the wake of the #MeToo movement) made a real difference here.

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By Selome Hailu

​The production team includes Ita O’Brien as Intimacy Coach, who directed the on-screen believability and off-screen ethics of the sex scenes. Unsurprisingly, as O’Brien also coordinated intimacy in Netflix’s hit series Sex Education, her work pays off here. Sex in Normal People is unlike anything on TV in recent memory. Time in bed begins and ends, unlike impersonal and all-too-common sex montages that fail to communicate what intimacy really means to each character.

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BY  ROBERT GOLDRICH

The revelation for Abrahamson was the invaluable contribution of intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien. Abrahamson confessed that he didn’t even know about the intimacy coordinator role going into Normal People and he was skeptical about its worth. He discovered otherwise. “I came to really value her. She was brilliant at setting a way of working, a structure, helping actors to feel safe and listened to. We could not have achieved that level of candidness in shooting otherwise.”

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By Marjorie Brennan

The sex scenes between Connell and Marianne, which are such an integral part of the book Normal People are particularly striking in their authenticity in the screen version. 

The presence of intimacy co-ordinator Ita O’Brien — whose work has been increasingly in demand since the advent of #MeToo — on set helped greatly with the filming of the scenes, despite Abrahamson’s initial reservations.

“That role is new to me, and initially I was probably sceptical, thinking ‘I don’t want someone to get between me and the cast’. I wanted to be able to move from dialogue into intimacy really seamlessly, because the intimacy continues the conversation, it’s not something separate — that’s what’s great about the novel. 

“And Ita really helped there because she creates an environment in which everyone feels very safe and listened to. I don’t want to be in a situation where the actors wouldn’t feel able to say no to something I wanted…. And Ita is not out to get in the way of my relationship with them and what we’re trying to do dramatically or artistically, she’s there to make that happen in a way that keeps everyone safe and happy. 

“So the reason those scenes feel truthful and real is a lot to do with the environment Ita creates. She’s brilliant and I’d work with her again in a heartbeat.”

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By Donal O’Donoghue

The show also used the same intimacy co-ordinator, Ita O’Brien, as Sex Education when filming the scenes between Marianne and Connell. “I was worried about using the co-ordinator initially, thinking that it might get between me and the actors, but in fact we found it quite liberating and empowering,” says Abrahamson. “And I also had the certainty that the actors were comfortable with what we were doing.”

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BY ABIGAIL GLASGOW

That’s where Normal People’s intimacy coordinator Ita O’Brien comes in. Like a stunt coordinator, she brings technique and skill to the movement via open communication and transparency. Her role is more comprehensive than simply determining the physical choreography of a scene; she helps actors understand their characters even in phases of script study; she works in tandem with the entire crew—directors, producers, wardrobe, assistants—through the entirety of the rehearsal process up until intimate content is shot on a closed set. The intimacy coordinator is helping to reshape—from rehearsal to audience—the infamously abusive relationship the industry has with sex.

Here, O’Brien—whose credits include Sex Education and Humans—talks the details of onscreen sex, the challenges of a simple kiss, and how a masturbation montage can change lives.

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Ita O’Brien is an Intimacy Coordinator and Movement Director for film, TV and theatre. She joins Sarah from London to tell us about her work on the series Normal People, and how sex on screen is created with the well being of the cast and crew at the centre of everything.

Listen on the ABC website