Since the #MeToo movement began in the late 2010s, a new person has been added to the crew of many films and television shows that include love scenes or nudity: the intimacy coordinator, who works with actors and filmmakers to plot out comfortable levels of contact and exposure in those scenes.

Some actors swear by intimacy coordinators, with Dakota Johnson and Michelle Williams praising their work on “Materialists” and “Dying for Sex” recently. Some prefer not to use them, a decision that Mikey Madison made for her Oscar-winning performance in “Anora.”

And some actors are puzzled by them. Richard Gere, who became a star in the late 1970s and early ’80s in a string of sexually-explicit films like “American Gigolo,” “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” “An Officer and a Gentleman” and “No Mercy,” falls into this camp, judging by a recent Wrap interview with the stars of the Paramount+/Showtime series “The Agency.”

Michael Fassbender and Jodie Turner-Smith, who played a CIA agent and a Sudanese professor who’d had a love affair while he was working undercover in Africa, talked about how they loved having an intimacy coordinator for their love scenes. Gere, who played the chief of the agency’s London office, asked them how it worked, and said he had never worked with one and seemed skeptical of the whole idea.

When TheWrap mentioned that intimacy coordinators didn’t exist when he was making his 1980s films, Gere agreed and said, “I don’t think it would’ve worked then, to tell you the truth.”

Fassbender, Turner-Smith and Jeffrey Wright disagreed and tried to explain to Gere why coordinators are so valuable, while he shared his experiences working without them.

The full exchange is below. It begins after Turner-Smith had been talking about how much she enjoyed working with Fassbender on the series.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER: We had the intimacy coach as well. Which, I got to say, I’m happy for that. A lot of the time, directors won’t say what they want you to do and you’re left to your own devices. But it’s kind of like doing a fight sequence now. It’s like, “OK, are you comfortable with me touching your breast or ass?” Or whatever it is. The guidelines are down and then you can shoot super fast.

RICHARD GERE:  So how did it work? I’ve never worked with one.

FASSBENDER:  You sit down and the director has to say, “I want to see this amount of nudity. This is ideally what I would like to see.” The intimacy person’s there to say, “OK, this is what is agreed.” And then you discuss exactly what you’re going to do. “Are you fine with being kissed on the neck?”

JODIE TURNER-SMITH: You figure out all the boundaries. And then, like Michael was saying, it’s like a fight. It’s like having a stunt choreographer, which is why I think it’s so important.

There has been a lot of (skepticism about coordinators), and I get it because I think when this position first arose, a lot of times it could feel like there’s another person now just making it more awkward. But when the job is done as it should be and when it’s offered in the way that it should be offered …

First of all, I think that no actor or actress should ever be in a position where a director comes to them and says, “Do you want an intimacy coordinator or not?” It should just be there for them, like a stunt coordinator. You would not do an unrehearsed stunt. It doesn’t make any sense.

It needs to be treated in the same way. And I think when the actors have an understanding of the boundaries, then you can be safe and you can do what you are doing. I just think it’s really irresponsible to not have that for the actors or to put the actors in a position where you are telling them, “Oh, you make the choice.” No, this is the person that should be there for that.

FASSBENDER:  One hundred percent.

They did not have those in those movies you were making in the ’80s, Richard.
GERE: No. I don’t think it would’ve worked then, to tell you the truth.

FASSBENDER: I disagree. You just never know what another person is uncomfortable with. And especially for women, maybe in that time it was very rarely a negative time.

GERE: But we talked about it then. I mean, that’s 40 years ago, but that’s not the last time I’ve been involved with scenes like that. And we talked about it. It wasn’t like, “OK, you two go at it and we’ll see what we get.” You still have angles, you still discussed the whole process. I just think …

JEFFREY WRIGHT: It can be a slippery slope, depending on who’s involved.

GERE: Depending on who’s involved, for sure.

FASSBENDER: I’ve had that, though, where it’s like, “Off you go, guys.”

GERE: I’ve never had that.

Click below to read the rest of the conversation.