Michaela Coel, creator and star of I May Destroy You, was named Leading Actress at the BAFTAs and dedicated her award to the intimacy coordinator she worked with, Ita O’Brien.
“Thank you for your existence in our industry, for making the space safe, for creating physical, emotional and professional boundaries so that we can make work about exploitation, loss of respect, about abuse of power without being exploited or abused in the process,” said Coel.
O’Brien has worked as an intimacy coordinator on a number of shows exploring consent, including Normal People and Sex Education.
Coel added that she knows what it’s like to film without an intimacy coordinator, to witness “the messy embarrassing feeling for the crew, the internal devastation for the actor.”
“Your direction was essential to my show, and I believe essential for every production company that wants to make work exploring themes of consent,” she added.