‘Doctor Who’ Star Was Stunned By 1 Incident on ‘True Detective’ Set After Past Betrayal By a Female Co-star
A twice BAFTA award-winning True Detective star, Christopher Eccleston rose to massive acclaim as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC’s Doctor Who. He also gained critical acclaim for his role in The Leftovers, playing Matt Jamison. He gained prominence through movies such as Let Him Have It (1991) and Our Friends in the North (1996), for the latter of which he won a BAFTA. He got his second BAFTA award for his role as Stephen Baxter in the drama series The Second Coming.
Recently, in an interview with the Independent UK, the True Detective star got candid about his experience shooting an intimate scene with Jodie Foster and about a past betrayal by an A-list actress.
One Incident That Left Star Christopher Eccleston Stunned On The True Detective Set
While talking to the Independent UK, Christopher Eccleston opened up about his True Detective appearance and why he took on such a seemingly small role. He candidly said it was due to a pure “emotional, intellectual, artistic crush” he had on Jodie Foster since they both were about 11 years old.
“I’d never have taken such a small part if it wasn’t for Jodie. But all my scenes are with her, and she’s been a heroine of mine for many years.”
They had an intimate scene that they needed to shoot and there was an intimacy coordinator on set. After the 2017 Harvey Weinstein scandal and the Me Too movement that highlighted the nature of s*xual misconduct in the industry, actresses such as Emily Meade demanded protection for actors on set, especially young and inexperienced ones. It is becoming standard practice in the industry to shoot intimate scenes with the help of an intimacy coordinator to protect the well-being of the actors involved.
While Christopher Eccleston is no stranger to shooting intimate scenes, True Detective was only the second time he was shooting with an intimacy coordinator. He heaped praise on the arrangement and the role of the coordinator, saying,
“Those are a wonderful innovation in the industry. Not just because it protects people, but to creatively decide how a scene should be played. If I were a writer, that would be very important to me – because the way people have s*x is how they communicate.”
However, there is one thing that left him stunned while shooting True Detective. The intimacy coordinator for the show took the time to tell Eccleston that they were there to protect him as well, which took him by surprise and forced him to give it a substantial thought.
“I’d not thought about that. You don’t think that maybe somebody’s copping a look at you. You just don’t, not from a working-class northern British background… I was born in ’64, when men were really not the objects of desire as far as I knew.”
According to the interview, in the past, the True Detective star has been taken advantage of in such a vulnerable position and it has scarred his mind. He opens up about that in this interview as well.
True Detective Star Christopher Eccleston Found Himself In Hot Waters While Shooting An Intimate Scene With An A-List Actress
While he has quite a bit of experience shooting s*x scenes for films, that does not mean it was a cool breeze. In fact, one time he got into a really bad situation where an A-list Hollywood actress accused him of “copping a feel” simply because she did not like him. In the same interview, he opens up about this horrifying experience, which highlights the need for intimacy coordinators on set even more.
“I did a sex scene with an A-list actress – not Nicole Kidman, who was brilliant – and she implied, in front of the crew, that I was copping a feel. Because she didn’t like me. Fortunately, that happened to me before the Harvey Weinstein stuff came to light, so I wasn’t put in the stocks for it. But I’ve never felt more betrayed by a fellow actor than I did that day.”
He then proceeds to talk about how it was a gross abuse of power that could have been prevented with an intimacy coordinator on set.
“I have to say to you that I would sooner have put my hands in a food blender than copped a feel of that person. It was an abuse of power, what she did. I don’t think that would have happened with an intimacy coordinator on set. I could have been accused of all manner of things… that’s about what passes between actors, with trust and the abuse of it.”
Although the True Detective star was shaken because of this grave injustice, slowly, with time, he recovered, and his time with Jodie Foster on True Detective was a beautiful experience.
True Detective is available to watch on Prime Video.
