‘The safest person’: Laura Dern praises co-star Liam Hemsworth over intimacy scenes

(CNN) — Hollywood actor Laura Dern has praised co-star Liam Hemsworth in an interview discussing filming intimate scenes in new Netflix movie “Lonely Planet.”

Dern, 57, told People magazine that she “was so lucky” to work with Hemsworth, 34, as he was “literally the safest person I could ever talk through everything in my life with.”

In an interview published Friday, Dern revealed that the pair had struck up a strong bond.

“By the time we were doing those scenes, there was nothing we couldn’t talk about together and work out creatively, professionally, all of that,” she said.

However, the pair also benefited from the presence of an intimacy coordinator, said Dern.

“We also had a lot of support. We had much, much discussion,” she said.

The role of the intimacy coordinator is to support the actor in any intimate action on set, such as contact kissing, physical touch, and simulated sex.

They often plan, choreograph and liaise with actors and the production team to ensure that those in front of, and behind, the camera feel safe and comfortable with every aspect and stage of the process.

Dern, who won the best supporting actress award at the Oscars in 2020 for “Marriage Story,” added that she finds it “incredible … that film and filmmaking have changed so that everyone is comfortable in their voice and can set boundaries comfortably without fear of losing a job or being unpopular.”

“We both, as young actors, have had a lot of other kinds of experiences on movies,” she said.

Dern has had a long career in Hollywood, receiving Oscar nominations for her performances in “Wild” and “Rambling Rose” before her win four years ago.

Hemsworth is best known for playing Gale Hawthorne in the “Hunger Games” movies.

“Lonely Planet” tells the story of a “newly single novelist,” played by Dern, who “finds an unexpected connection with a younger man who’s reevaluating his life choices,” according to Netflix.

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