Jasmine Curtis-Smith in “Real Life Fiction” | Image: Black Cap Pictures
As she takes on her most daring and most mature role in the movie “Real Life Fiction,” Jasmine Curtis-Smith expressed her hope for production teams to look after their actresses and ensure their comfortability when doing intimate scenes.
Curtis-Smith made the remarks at the sidelines of the media conference for “Real Life Fiction,” opposite Piolo Pascual. The movie called for her role to bare certain body parts, as well as carry out some daring love scenes — her first time to do so.
The actress said she practically threw out her comfort zone to be able to deliver the performance required by the scene, but she gave props to the production team for taking care of her during the filming of her intimate scenes.
She knew her experience is somewhat in contrast with what newcomer Angeli Khang went through in some of her films, that’s why she said it’s important for the production to take care of their actors so that they will not be taken advantaged of.
“I think it really just depends on the production team as much as it is dependent on the actors voicing out what they need to be comfortable with. Sometimes the actor or actress might not feel comfortable making such a request because it might sound demanding and I totally understand that,” Curtis-Smith explained.
Curtis-Smith said there are instances when a role requires heavy intimacy, and as actors, they are obliged to give their best performance, so the best thing to do is get it over and done with.
“Kasi alam naman natin na ayun ‘yung mga requirement ng pelikula or ng storya (we already know that’s the requirement for the film or story), so gawin na natin diba (so let’s comply to it),” said the “In My Mother’s Skin” star.
On the other hand, the intimacy coordinator assigned needs to put certain rules in place, such as limiting the number of people watching the intimate scenes.
In the end, Curtis-Smith said, she hoped that Khang will find the strength to ask anything that will make her feel safe on set.
“I’m sorry she felt so uncomfortable, but I really hope in the future she finds within herself to request those things, or if not, her management, the production team, will take the step without her needing to ask for it,” she said.
Khang recently made headlines after she admitted that she felt she was “taken advantage of” while filming love scenes in Vivamax movies, as her co-actors tended to be extra passionate with her.
Her revelation raised an alarm with the party-list group Gabriela, which called for the protection of women in the entertainment industry, describing their sometimes unpleasant experience in filming love scenes as a “manifestation of the pervasive exploitation that women continue to face.”
Meanwhile, when asked how she ensures she’s comfortable doing her spicy scenes in her new movie, Curtis-Smith remarked that she’s lucky because her production team helped her through it.
“When it comes to filming intimate scenes, usually what is requested or what is the protocol dapat, the standard operating procedure is to have an intimacy coordinator on set as much as possible if it’s permitted; kung meron may budget (if there’s a budget), I’m very lucky,” she shared.
“Our assistant director was also a woman; I didn’t really need to request an intimacy coordinator and at the same time, having worked with Paul Soriano on multiple projects, there was a level of comfort. I really didn’t need to ask him ‘Uy paano natin to gagawin’ (How should we do this?) because I knew he would also be very protective of me,” she further said, referring to their movie director.
“Real Life Fiction” opens in local cinemas on Aug. 28.