00:00Some days it don't come hard, and some days it don't come easy.
00:06I've heard some horror stories.
00:08Mainly the stories that I think disturbed me the most
00:10were stories about directors just saying to the actors,
00:15oh, like, you guys go off and figure it out.
00:18Like, you go off into the other room and just come up with a sex scene
00:22because the director felt so awkward and uncomfortable.
00:26And that really puts people in such an unsafe position.
00:31The show has been lauded for using intimacy coordinators.
00:35How does that change the way that it's presented to the world?
00:39For me, it just was really essential because of the subject matter of the series.
00:45After our first writer's room, I think it was about six weeks later
00:49that the Me Too movement happened, and I think that just really shifted
00:53a lot of conversations about how film and TV should be approached
01:00and how it should be made.
01:02Because with sex education, it's a teen show,
01:04so we were working with a lot of new actors.
01:08Some of these actors had never even been on a film or TV set before.
01:13It just felt really important that they had that emotional support
01:16and they had that backup and that ability to advocate for themselves.
01:20This season, I feel like so clearly is going to open up a lot of people
01:24to things and experiences that they've never seen before, right?
01:29In particular, trans identity and the trans experience.
01:33What do you hope the audience will walk away knowing
01:37or reflecting on maybe that they hadn't before?
01:41I learned a lot through the writing of it.
01:44We'd introduced the character of Cal in Series 3,
01:48and I knew that I wanted to deepen their story and progress that story.
01:54But it was really important to me that Cal didn't have to shoulder
01:59the whole trans experience, and so I wanted to make sure
02:03that we had multiple trans storylines happening in the show.
02:07And again, worked really closely with our writers and consultants,
02:12and then also with the actors themselves.
02:15I think so often trans people are just not actually included
02:19in the conversations about trans politics or trans issues,
02:23and we really wanted to make sure as a program
02:26we were centering those trans voices.
02:29I think it's really interesting what you said
02:31about having multiple trans characters.
02:34Why now? Why do we need to be having those conversations now?
02:38Why do you think it's important?
02:41You know, trans joy shown on screen as well as pain.
02:45There's some very, very fraught and toxic discourse
02:49that is happening at the moment.
02:50I don't think I'm the right spokesperson to really get into
02:53the ins and outs of that, but I felt like, you know,
02:57I felt like the show is really about community and friendship
03:00and people standing up for each other,
03:02and so it felt important to include those storylines.
03:06I think where it really matters and it's important
03:09and it feels really essential to kind of bring
03:11those specific actors into the conversation,
03:14particularly when they're playing a part
03:16that is also close to their lived experience.
03:19I mean, I think it's just really essential
03:22that people are given the opportunity to play those parts, you know?
03:27What were some of your own recollections
03:29of sex education as a student?
03:31When I was a teenager, it was pretty much non-existent,
03:34so I also felt like this was a show
03:37that I would have got a lot from when I was younger
03:40in terms of, you know, just giving young people
03:44some better language to talk about their bodies and their identity.
03:48You have to believe that you deserve the things you have to love yourself.
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