Games actors raise concerns over recording sexually explicit scenes without notice

Trigger warning: This article contains references to rape and sexual assault

Games industry performers have raised concerns of being asked to act out explicit sexual content without notice.

In a recent report by BBC News, actors said that the "cultural secrecy around projects" results in scripts not being shared until the day of filming.

Professional casting director Jessica Jefferies, who also has experience as a motion capture performer, said the only information studios would provide would be an email or call for when they were needed.

She told the BBC she once turned up to a shoot involving a sexual assault without being told beforehand.

"I turned up and was told I would be filming a graphic rape scene," she said. "The act could be watched for as long or as little time as the player wanted through a window, and then a player would be able to shoot this character in the head. It was purely gratuitous in my opinion."

Jeffries refused to act out the scene, and was the only female on set. The scene was not filmed as a result.

"There's no nudity involved, but it's still an act and there's an intimacy in that act and also a violence in this situation," added Jeffries.

"So yes, there may be a layer of lycra between us, but you are still there and still having to truly immerse yourself in this scene."

Jeffries said that performers should know about this sort of content in advance so they don't feel pressure to do something they don't want to do.

A voice actor and Equity member had a similar experience, in which she had to film a "full-on sex scene" that she wasn't aware of beforehand.

"I had to [vocally] match the scene and through the glass in the booth was the entire team, all male, watching me," she said. "It was excruciating."

"At that stage I had been in the games industry a while, and I had never felt so shaken. What upset me so much about the situation is I was put on the spot, nobody thought to ask me if I was ok, and nobody checked to see if I was ok afterwards."

She added that she feared she'd be labelled as a "troublemaker" for speaking up.

Equity has developed guidance for recording explicit or intimate scenes, in which they consulted Jeffries. These include:

• A summary of the story, scene breakdown and scripts should be distributed to all cast members in advance
• Performers should be able to request a closed set where access is kept to a minimum
• A competent intimacy coordinator should be engaged

The union has also shared guidance on minimum pay and working conditions in the industry, having recently issued support and guidance of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

"These guidelines are just to bring it even more in line with the best practices in the film and TV industry," said Jeffries.

An example of this in practice is Baldur's Gate 3, in which Larian hired intimacy coordinators for its actors voicing and performing intimate scenes.