Sex Education star Asa Butterfield says working with an intimacy coordinator helped the whole cast find boundaries.
In the show, Butterfield plays an awkward teen who shares sex advice while battling his own fears of intimacy. Sex Education was the first Netflix show to rope in an intimacy coordinator, Ita O'Brien.
"It was helpful to have someone to talk to if you don't feel comfortable or if you don't necessarily want to bring something up or you're embarrassed," hollywoodreporter.com quoted Butterfield as saying.
Dealing With Teenage Sexuality
"A lot of my scenes were me, by myself. For my five-minute masturbating scene, I didn't actually feel like I needed to work with her because I had a good idea of how that might play out. But for scenes with Patricia - we met at the end of season one, but we didn't know each other before then - Ita helped us find our boundaries," he added.
In season one, Butterfield as Otis and his friend Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey)set-up a sex clinic at school to capitalize on his intuitive talent for sex advice. In season two, as a late bloomer, Otis must master his newly discovered sexual urges in order to progress with his girlfriend Ola, and also deal with his now strained relationship with Maeve.
Connecting With Viewers Due To Real Moments
Talking about the show, he said: "At the heart of it, it uses comedy to tell these stories. That makes the drama more powerful because viewers connect with these real moments and the comedy helps take down your boundaries and shields by getting you to laugh, which makes the dramatic moments more effective.
"(Director) Ben Taylor and (creator-showrunner) Laurie Nunn want us to bring our ideas into scenes and into our parts. That feels very freeing and allows us to channel that familiar teenage experience and kind of awkwardness that we all can relate to," he added.
