Intimacy coordinator weighs in on leaked ‘It Ends With Us’ footage

An intimacy coordinator is weighing in on the recently leaked behind-the-scenes footage from “It Ends With Us,” which shows actor-director Justin Baldoni and co-star Blake Lively filming a scene specifically cited in her sexual harassment allegations against him.

Mia Schachter, who did not work on the movie, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the 10-minute unedited footage, which Baldoni’s lawyer released Tuesday in an effort to dispel Lively’s claims.

The footage shows Baldoni and Lively filming a slow-motion dance scene in the early days of their characters’ eventually abusive romance. Baldoni can be seen attempting to kiss Lively multiple times as she pulls away or turns her head.

“They clearly haven’t discussed that ahead of time, and she keeps pulling away and clearly doesn’t want to do that,” Schachter said, before pointing to the script excerpt that flashes on screen at the start of the video. “There’s not even kissing written into the scene. … To me, that’s pretty damning, both as an actor and a director.”

Schachter also pointed to the fact that there were two intimacy coordinators credited on the film, but neither were present for this particular scene. She said that’s likely because there was “no simulated sex or nudity … not even kissing written into the scene” — seemingly supporting Lively’s claims that some of the physical intimacy was improvised by Baldoni and without Lively’s consent.

Schachter suspects Lively had a “running list of moments where she felt uncomfortable” leading up to the filming of this scene, during which Baldoni also allegedly made a bothersome comment about the way Lively smelled.

“To say that out of character, it’s not inherently wrong or inappropriate, but when there has been mounting discomfort and mounting line crossings, I can see how that becomes yet another thing that was out of line,” Schachter said. “That line to me is something that you may not even notice if you feel comfortable and safe.”

Though the “Gossip Girl” alum was “the household name on the project” and would have had “a significant amount of power” as both star and co-producer, Schachter said it’s clear that Lively was “trapped between a rock and a hard place.”

“She still has to keep working with him and keep the peace and play nice,” Schachter explained. “Regardless [of her power], he is the director and she’s supposed to take direction from him. I was sort of surprised that this is the clip that his team leaked.”