Actor Martin Freeman is known for his work on shows such as Sherlock and the first season of Fargo. He is also known for playing Everett K. Ross in the MCU, making appearances in Black Panther and Captain America: Civil War, and also playing the role of Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.
Freeman recently came under fire for his latest film Miller’s Girl which sees him play a creative writing teacher who has an affair with his eighteen-year-old student played by Jenna Ortega. Many criticized the age gap between the actors and the intimate scenes present in the film. Freeman defended the film by invoking Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.
Martin Freeman Defended Miller’s Girl Age Gap Controversy With Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List
The Martin Freman starrer Miller’s Girl was reportedly among 2016’s blacklist screenplays. Written by Jade Halley Bartlett, the screenplay was reportedly bought by Seth Rogen’s Point Grey Productions. Among the year’s blacklisted screenplays were Free Guy, I, Tonya, Steven Spieberg’s The Post, and the Hugh Jackman starrer Bad Education (via Deadline).
Halley Bartlett also directed the film, which saw a steamy love affair between an eighteen-year-old high-school senior Cairo Sweet, and her creative writing teacher Jonathan Miller. The film delves into the complicated relationship they share as they bond over their love for literature and writing. The film also features some intimate scenes between the two.
Upon release, Miller’s Girl reportedly received criticism for the intimate scenes present in the film between Freeman and Ortega, who have a large age gap of thirty-one years. However, Freeman defended the film and reportedly compared it to Liam Neeson’s starring role as Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. He said to The Times,
“It’s not saying, ‘Isn’t this great?’…Are we going to have a go at Liam Neeson for being in a film about the Holocaust?”
Martin Freeman mentioned that the film did not endorse the relationship but made viewers feel uncomfortable with it instead. He had also told Collider that he had found the script to be gutsy and ‘not black and white’.
Jenna Ortega Was Reportedly Comfortable On The Sets of Miller’s Girl
The way intimate scenes in Hollywood productions have been filmed has changed a lot. The presence of an intimacy coordinator in films with n*dity or simulated s*x scenes has been encouraged by the SAG-AFTRA to protect actors from doing someone they are not comfortable with (via SAG-AFTRA).
While the Martin Freeman starrer Miller’s Girl came under fire for its intimate scenes between the Sherlock star and his thirty-one years younger co-star Jenna Ortega, the intimacy coordinator of the film revealed that they took necessary precautions and care while filming them to make sure Ortega was not uncomfortable during the scenes.
Kristina Arjona, who was the intimacy coordinator on Miller’s Girl said in Daily Mail,
“Part of my job too is supporting her decisions. 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…I’m hyper-aware of both of my talents and making sure that we’re consistently checking in and that at no point are any of their boundaries being surpassed…especially with someone who’s significantly younger – that they are giving continuous consent.”
Though Jenna Ortega has yet to comment on the backlash the movie received, Kristina Arjona mentioned that she constantly made sure that the actors were comfortable with the level of n*dity that they could do and the extent of simulated s*x scenes they could perform.
Miller’s Girl is currently streaming on Netflix.
