Intimacy coordinators rarely get the spotlight they deserve, but Cynthia Erivo is speaking out about how one key crew member provided a crucial “safe space” while filming assault scenes for Prima Facie.
Appearing at the BFI London Film Festival, the Oscar nominee opened up about navigating the emotional landscape of the upcoming project, highlighting the crucial role played by the production’s intimacy coordinator in keeping her grounded.
Based on Suzie Miller’s Tony Award-winning play, Prima Facie follows Tessa Ensler, a brilliant criminal defense barrister whose worldview is shattered after she is sexually assaulted by a colleague.
“Lizzy, our intimacy coordinator, was really helpful with creating a space that felt very safe,” Erivo shared, per Variety.
Explaining the psychological toll of embodying the character’s trauma, she added, “I had to understand what it was like to be in your body but not there, so finding what that looked like for me, where you’re there but you have to check out to stay safe. And that was the thing that we had to figure out, how to do that and come back safely.”
Cynthia Erivo opens up about her experience filming Prima Facie
Erivo admitted that while shooting the sequence was intensely difficult, the biggest challenge was transitioning back to reality once the cameras stopped rolling.
“A lot of this was really hard to film, but the hardest thing was actually coming back from filming it,” she noted. “Getting your feet back on the ground, getting back into your body and finding the safest place again.”
The 39-year-old actress also praised her co-star Daniel Ings. He plays the lawyer in the film, who assaults Erivo’s character Tessa. She called Ings “very kind” and mentioned that he kept having conversations with her on how they could be “protective of one another” while shooting the scene.
Directed by Suzanna White, Prima Facie’s ensemble cast includes Toheeb Jimoh, Noma Dumezweni, Harry Treadaway, Simon Russell Beale, Elizabeth Dulau, Khalid Abdalla, Elliot Levey, and Bronagh Waugh.
The movie is produced by Greer Simpkin, Kevin Loader, and David Jowsey. Erivo, Suzie Miller, Suzanna White, Solome Williams, Anita Verma-Lallian, Malinda Wink, Hugo Grumbar, and Tim Haslam serve as the executive producers.
Prima Facie is scheduled to hit theaters in the U.K. and Ireland on November 13, 2026, following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. An official U.S. release date has not yet been announced.
Originally reported on ComingSoon.
