Juliette Binoche believes using intimacy coordinators can lead to a "bad situation" because actors are performing without emotion.
The 62-year-old actress "of course" understands why such experts have been brought in to safeguard performers but she believes people need to go "beyond [their] comfort zone" in order to make love scenes appear convincing.
She told The Guardian newspaper: “I’ve been approached about that. The vocabulary is all: ‘Are you agreeing that he touches this?’ The body becomes a puzzle...
“It’s not as simple as having an intimacy coordinator on set. When you’re in a love scene it needs to come from the heart, the guts, the need. And so if you’re thinking of the movement you’re going to do and not of the feeling, you’re in a bad situation.
"When you’re embodying lovers, you overcome some fears of touching bodies. You really have to go beyond your comfort zone because otherwise you become a prude and not truthful to what’s happening in life.”
But the Chocolat actress noted nude scenes are "always difficult".
She said: “Each time you have to do nude scenes, it’s always difficult. You have to focus on why you’re doing them so you’re not worried about them in a heavy way. It helps when you trust the director.”
Juliette learned the hard way when she discovered her Alice and Martin director André Téchiné had breached his promises to her when she agreed to a nude scene.
Without giving details, she said: “I felt betrayed. I liked André. He’s gay. But for me, something was then broken.”
She ultimately persuaded producers to remove the footage and never worked with the director again.
Elsewhere in the interview, the Staircase actress insisted she isn't "worried" about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the film industry.
She said: “I’m not thinking about it too much.
“They were saying that painting was going to disappear because we had cameras, or that theater was going to die when cinema arrived. So I don’t think you should be worried. It’s called artificial intelligence. It’s not spiritual intelligence or human intelligence.”
When it comes to choosing her roles, Juliette relies on instinct and finds it "freeing" not to concern herself with her career trajectory.
She said: “It feels so freeing. If you’re attached to status and thinking, ‘I’m not going to descend,’ I think you’re losing possible opportunities for art.”
