Young Sheldon Star Emily Osment recalls requesting an intimacy coordinator during her time on the CBS series because of the age gap between her and co-star Montana Jordan. Osment, who played Mandy McAllister, was 30 when she joined the series in 2022, while Jordan, who played George Cooper, was 18.
Revealed in Jessica Radloff’s new book, Young Sheldon: The inside story (juicier than Meemaw’s chest) of the hit comedy, which is a behind-the-scenes oral history of the show, Osment explained that although she and Jordan didn’t share sex scenes, she felt “uncomfortable” because of their age difference.
“It made me uncomfortable. It was a baby! A baby with a mullet,” Osment said. “So I talked to Tim Marx, and obviously they couldn’t get one this late in the day, but for the later episodes they had one there, because the relationship between them was intensifying. It made everything easier to have one there. I think that’s something really important.”
“I don’t know if Montana knew if he could ask that. Let’s give him that option too. Make him comfortable. And he’s such a nice kid, I think he would just eat up his discomfort,” she continued. “But I love those guys, and I’m really happy that they got to the point where they were able to do that (for us).”
Elsewhere in the book, director Alex Reid acknowledged that production initially “dropped the ball” and neglected to have an intimacy coordinator, saying the team’s decision was influenced by the lack of sex scenes in the series.
“I have a between-take photo of them sitting in this car when we shot this, and they’re looking in other directions. I showed it to Emily and she said, ‘Yeah, it was so uncomfortable for both of us, because we didn’t know each other,'” Reid added. “It wasn’t even about the lack of an intimacy coordinator. It’s just that you have to make out with someone you just met. Obviously, they understood that, and they have great chemistry now, but it was kind of awkward.”
Now Osment and Jordan play in the Young Sheldon spin-off Georgie and Mandy’s first marriage, which is in its third season and airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
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