Martin Freeman, 52, reacts to backlash over ‘gross’ age gap with Jenna Ortega, 21, in ‘Miller’s Girl’
Martin Freeman didn’t see anything wrong with his age gap with co-star Jenna Ortega in “Miller’s Girl.” After all, that was the point of the plot.
“[It’s] grown-up and nuanced. It’s not saying, ‘Isn’t this great?’ ” he told UK’s the Times in an interview published Saturday.
“And that’s a shame,” he went on. “Are we gonna have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?”
The English actor, 52, plays Jonathan Miller in the black comedy-drama, the teacher of Ortega’s Cairo Sweet, his 18-year-old student. The pair get entangled in an inappropriate relationship after she plans to seduce him.
“MARTIN FREEMAN WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO JENNA ORTEGA,” one viewer posted on X in February.
“This Jenna Ortega/Martin Freeman film is so gross! So, so, so, so gross!” another said.
A third wrote: “That jenna ortega martin freeman clip might b the worst thing i’ve ever seen.”
Although Ortega has not spoken about the backlash, the movie’s intimacy coordinator claims the “Wednesday” actress was comfortable with the 30-year age difference.
“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,” Kristina Arjona told the Daily Mail.
She noted that her job entailed adapting to the “comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this 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.” Additionally, they were given “continuous consent.”
The actors also used “additional barriers” as they “simulated sex scenes.”
That same month, SAG-AFTRA announced a new rule that intimacy coordinators now need actors’ consent to discuss sex scenes publicly.
“Intimacy coordinators are a crucial resource on any set to ensure the protection of our members working in intimate scenes,” a SAG-AFTRA spokesperson told Deadline. “Intimacy coordinators should maintain the confidentiality of an actor’s work and experience in performing highly sensitive scenes unless they have the actor’s permission to publicly share this information.
“The public release of details about an actor’s scene work or confidences entrusted to the intimacy coordinator without the performer’s consent is unacceptable,” the statement continued. “Members have to feel safe, comfortable and confident in engaging with intimacy coordinators.”
If an intimacy coordinator fails to do so, they can be removed from the SAG-AFTRA registry of certified intimacy coordinators following an investigation.