Jenna Ortega, 22, reveals how she felt filming intimate scene with Martin Freeman who is 30 years older
Jenna Ortega starred alongside 53-year-old Martin Freeman in 'Miller's Girl', a film centered around an illicit relationship between a teacher and his student. The movie left viewers feeling uncomfortable, particularly during the racy intimate scenes between Ortega and Freeman's characters. However, the 21-year-old defended her choice: "It's not supposed to be a comfortable movie. It's supposed to be awful at times," she told Vanity Fair during a September cover exclusive in 2024. "Art isn't always meant to be pleasant or happy, and everyone skips off into the sunset at the end. We all have f****d-up experiences at one point or another," she added.
Intimacy coordinator Kristina Arjona sided with the lead pair and explained that the scenes were shot aesthetically with prior consent. "There were 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," she told the Daily Mail. Arjona revealed that despite their glaring age gap Freeman and Ortega didn't hesitate to film the raunchy sequences. "I adapt to whatever is the comfort level of my actors, especially on a production like this where there is a large age gap between the actors," she shared.
"And again, making sure - especially with someone who's significantly younger - that they are giving continuous consent," the intimacy coordinator explained. Arjona further explained that the lead actors were briefed about their 'nudity scenes' and educated about the 'modesty garments' that were to be used while filming the intense sequences. Other terms discussed included the appropriate distance being maintained. Arjona stated that the lead actors were given written instructions 48 hours prior to the start of the filming process, and they were free to refuse at any moment. "They 'also have the option on the day to change their mind if they don't want to do any of the elements that we've discussed."
"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 added. An insider criticized the public backlash stating that Ortega was just portraying an on-screen character that shouldn't be compared with her previous works. Labeling the allegations as 'misogynistic', the insider continued, "People need to get over the fact that Jenna is not Wednesday Adams and that she is a grown woman who is exploring serious roles as a talented actress."
Miller's Girl is not a good movie but since so many people of late have seemed to take the depiction of anything in a movie as an endorsement of it, yeah, what he said. https://t.co/4ZygGJfIue
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) April 29, 2024
Similarly, Freeman defended his role saying that "stories about difficult subjects can be tainted by association" in an exclusive with The Times. Calling the film 'grown-up and nuanced' the 'Wakanda Forever' actor added, "It's not saying, "Isn't [an age-gap romance] great,"' he said. As per Screenrant, 'Miller's Girl' was released in January last year, and the film went on to collect a mere $321,000 during its opening weekend. The subpar performance could be linked to the controversial subject, however, it did not harm Ortega's growing career.
