Katherine Heigl Didn’t Know What an Intimacy Coordinator Was Before ‘Firefly Lane’

Katherine Heigl claimed that she had never heard of working with an intimacy coordinator before filming Firefly Lane — and, being a veteran in the biz, she was initially turned off by the concept.

While speaking with Business Insider, the 27 Dresses actor reflected on how the Hollywood industry has changed over the years, saying, “For Firefly Lane, we had an intimacy coordinator on set — a person whose job it is to ensure that actors feel comfortable during intimate scenes.”

“She’d talk to directors, producers, whoever, and say, ‘This is what they’ll do, and this is what they won’t’ — and then the actors don’t get asked again. I’d never even heard of that before,” she said.

Turns out Heigl isn’t too different from the rest of us. After all, most people only began hearing of intimacy coordinators in the post #MeToo era and in anticipation of the releases of the popular, R-Rated series like Bridgerton, Euphoria and Normal People.

Economic Times notes that the rise in the profession came in 2017, which was around the same time HBO introduced a policy requiring all of their shows and movies with “intimate scenes” to hire an intimacy coordinator.

Unfamiliar with the process, Heigl was initially dismayed by the added “attention” that comes with an intimacy coordinator. She said, “At first I was a little like, ‘Hey, I’ve been around the block a few times; I don’t need this kind of attention.’ But then I was like, “Hell yeah! That’s how it should be.'” She added that she now sees the profession as “a blessing.”

Heigl also reflected on the importance of standing up for herself within the “complicated industry” she works in. Despite being named a “rom-com queen” in the noughties, Heigl was the target of incessant hate (and alleged blacklisting) after criticizing how female characters were portrayed in the 2007 comedy Knocked Up, which she starred in alongside Seth Rogan and Leslie Mann, calling her role “a little bit sexist” in an interview with Vanity Fair, and being vocal about 17-hour work days on Grey’s Anatomy.

Last year, she told The Washington Post that the response was alienating, saying, “I may have said a couple of things you didn’t like, but then that escalated to ‘she’s ungrateful,’ then that escalated to ‘she’s difficult,’ and that escalated to ‘she’s unprofessional.'”

Revisiting the backlash, Heigl told Business Insider, “It’s a complicated industry. There’s a lot of money on the line, a lot of people involved, and a lot of opinions that are sometimes presented as fact — so it’s very hard to stand up for yourself when there’s no one to back you up. And you’re often labeled difficult for doing so.”

But now, Heigl finds her work experience to be more enjoyable, crediting her lessons learned on self-advocacy and Hollywood’s progressions. And also, her work in Firefly Lane: “It had everything I’d decided I wanted in my next project: the heart, the love, the exploration of grief, and the humor,” Heigl said about the show. “I feel like this is the kind of story I want to tell.”

Firefly Lane Season 2 Part 1 is currently streaming on Netflix.