There may have been no sex scenes in “Young Sheldon,” but star Emily Osment still requested an intimacy coordinator due to her “concern” about co-star Montana Jordan’s age.
In Jessica Radloff’s new book about the making of the series, titled “Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy,” she explains Osment’s discomfort filming kissing scenes with Jordan due to their age gap. When their first episodes were filmed, Jordan, who played George Cooper, was 18 while Osment, who played Mandy McAllister, was 30.
“It made me uncomfortable. It was a baby! A baby with a mullet. So I talked to Tim Marx, and obviously they couldn’t get one that late in the day, but for later episodes they had one there, because the relationship between them was escalating,” Osment said. “It made everything easier to have one there. I think that’s something really important.”
She added, “I don’t know if Montana knew if he could ask for 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. 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).”
Director Alex Reid admitted that because they didn’t have sex scenes on the CBS show, they “totally dropped the ball” by filming kissing scenes between Osment and Jordan.
“Between takes, I have a picture 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.’ they have great chemistry now, but it was kind of awkward.
Co-creator Steve Molaro noted that Osment had “every right to ask” for an intimacy coordinator and ultimately “she was comfortable without one.”
The fictional couple are now the focus of their own show, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,” despite the network’s initial concerns about exploring a relationship with such a large age gap, another topic explored by Randloff’s book.
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