Jenna Ortega had no issues filming a sex scene with Martin Freeman in the new R-rated black comedy Miller’s Girl, despite it being branded gross by viewers due to the 30-year age difference between Ortega and Freeman. The film’s intimacy coordinator, Kristina Arjona is speaking out amid the backlash, claiming that Ortega was comfortable on set.
Jenna Ortega was comfortable filming the controversial intimate scene with Martin Freeman
A sex scene between Jenna Ortega, 21, and Martin Freeman, 52, is making waves online. The Wednesday actress and the Hobbit actor co-starred in Miller’s Girl, a black comedy-drama where Ortega plays Cairo Sweet, an 18-year-old student, and Freeman plays her teacher. They get into an inappropriate relationship after she plans to seduce him, which viewers are slamming.
Kristina Arjona, the film’s intimacy coordinator spoke out amid the backlash, claiming that Ortega was comfortable on set. “There was many, many people throughout this process, engaging with [Jenna] to make sure that it was consistent with what she was comfortable with, and she was very determined and very sure of what she wanted to do,” Arjona told the Daily Mail in a new interview.
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She noted that her job entails adapting to the comfort level of her actors, especially in a production where there is a large age gap between the actors. Arjona explained that she always checked in on the actors and made sure their boundaries weren’t being surpassed.
Ortega and Freeman had simulated sex scenes, in which they used modesty garments as additional barriers to ensure that there was an appropriate distance between the two. Arjona also added that the stars were able to change their minds about doing a certain element in an intimacy scene on the day of if they so wished. “For this film, in particular, because of the sensitivity of the content, they had some different variations of how they wanted to shoot these scenes so that audiences could watch them at test screenings to see what was too much,” she explained.
The film was slammed on social media earlier this week for its raunchy content, particularly blasting Freeman’s role. “Just saw a thread of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) groping Jenna Ortega in new show, strange times,” someone tweeted on X, formerly Twitter.
“This Jenna Ortega/Martin Freeman film is so gross! So, so, so, so gross!” another said. “MARTIN FREEMAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO JENNA ORTEGA,” one fan posted.
What is Miller’s Girl about?
Miller’s Girl is a 2024 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by Jade Halley Bartlett. The film stars Jenna Ortega and Martin Freeman as a student and teacher who enter into a complicated relationship after a creative writing assignment. The film was theatrically released in the United States by Lionsgate on January 26, 2024.
Cairo Sweet, an 18-year-old wealthy girl living alone in Tennessee, takes the class of high school creative writing teacher Jonathan Miller. She impresses him with her literature knowledge and familiarity with Miller’s book, Apostrophes and Ampersands. Miller, who gave up writing after marriage, is reminded of his lack of ambition by his wife Beatrice, who becomes a successful author.
Cairo has to write a college admission essay to Yale University, with the subject being the greatest achievement to date, but she cannot find anything worthy to write about. Winnie, Cairo’s bisexual best friend, tells her to experience the excitement of a teacher-student affair as she intends to with the school’s gym teacher Boris Fillmore, who is Miller’s best friend. Seeing the intellectual connection between Cairo and Miller, Winnie suggests Cairo seduce Miller.
Cairo and Miller spend more time together, sharing interests in novels, poems, and Tennesseean culture. Miller assigns Cairo to write a short story in her favorite author’s style, and she chooses Henry Miller. Despite initial reluctance, Miller approves. When Miller accidentally takes Cairo’s phone, she returns it personally. Inspired, she writes an erotic short story about a teacher and student’s sexual relationship. Miller reads it alone, getting turned on and eventually masturbating.
Miller declares that the story is unacceptable and demands Cairo to change it, but she calls him out for his cowardice and hypocrisy. Offended by Miller’s rejection, Cairo sends the story to the school’s vice principal Joyce Manor to expose a possible affair between them. She also takes advantage of Winnie’s attraction to her by convincing her to send sexual photos of themselves to Fillmore, leading them to undress and kiss passionately.
The vice principal questions Cairo and Miller about their relationship, leading to Miller’s suspension. Fillmore blames him for not knowing his limits as a teacher. Miller’s anger is fueled by an argument with Beatrice, who points out the toxic nature of their marriage. This situation causes a rift in Miller’s friendship and a rift in his friendship with Fillmore.
Realizing what Cairo’s actions had done to Miller, Winnie asks her to withdraw the charges against him, but Cairo refuses, calling Miller’s downfall her “greatest achievement to date”. She writes her experiences into her admission essay in the same style Miller used in his book. Miller, having reached rock bottom but inspired for the first time in years, decides to write a new book.
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