Martin Freeman reflects on age-gap controversy with Jenna Ortega in 'Miller's Girl'

Martin Freeman is pushing back on the recent controversy surrounding his film “Miller’s Girl.”

Freeman, who plays high school teacher Jonathan Miller in the Jade Halley Bartlett-directed dramedy, addressed scrutiny of the 31-year age gap between him and co-star Jenna Ortega in an interview with The Sunday Times published Saturday. The “Wednesday” star plays Cairo Sweet, an 18-year-old student Miller has an affair with.

Despite the film’s controversial subject matter, Freeman told the British outlet the film is “grown-up and nuanced.” He added that artistic works can center difficult topics without glamorizing them, offering the example of Liam Neeson’s 1993 historical drama “Schindler’s List,” which takes a look at the persecution of Jewish people by the Nazis during World War II.

“It’s not saying, ‘Isn’t this great?’ ” said Freeman in defense of “Miller’s Girl.” “Are we going to have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?”

'Miller's Girl' controversy: SAG-AFTRA adjusts intimacy coordinator confidentiality rules after Jenna Ortega movie

Jenna Ortega was ‘comfortable’ with intimate scene in ‘Miller’s Girl’

In a February interview with the Daily Mail, intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona said Ortega was fully comfortable with an intimate scene shot between her and Freeman’s characters in "Miller's Girl."

"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 said at the time, adding, "I'm hyper aware of both of my talent and making sure that we're consistently checking in and that at no point are any of their boundaries being surpassed."

Arjona also said there were discussions on the "level of nudity" with Ortega and Freeman and added that the film had "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."

'It's very manipulative': Jenna Ortega opens up about dark side of social media

Shortly after Arjona’s interview, actors union SAG-AFTRA adjusted its Standards and Protocols for the Use of Intimacy Coordinators, which SAG-AFTRA describes as liaisons between actors and production for nudity and intimate scenes. The protocols now state that an intimacy coordinator must maintain confidentiality of an actor's work and experience in performing such sensitive scenes, unless they have the actor's permission to share the information.

According to Deadline, intimacy coordinators who fail to adhere to these rules could be removed from SAG-AFTRA's registry.

"Miller's Girl" is now available to stream on Netflix.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Martin Freeman talks 'Miller's Girl' controversy, Jenna Ortega age gap