"Red, White & Royal Blue"'s Director Was Meticulous About Sex-Scene Details

Having an intimacy coordinator on set is not an entirely new concept in the entertainment industry; they're actually used frequently for a lot of the sexy movies and TV shows you watch today. Not only can you thank an intimacy coordinator for the horny sexual tension you saw in season two of "Bridgerton," but you can also thank them for ensuring sex scenes in shows like "Obsession" and "Euphoria" look the same as sex off screen.

But making sure sex looks sexy isn't the only part of an intimacy coordinator's job. It also includes showing the other, more realistic side of sex.

In Amazon Prime Video's new rom-com "Red, White & Royal Blue," intimacy coordinator Robbie Taylor Hunt and director Matthew López wanted to make realistic-looking sex a priority — especially given "Red, White & Royal Blue" is one of the first notable LGBTQ+ love stories to hit a major platform like Amazon Prime Video.

In an interview with Variety, López opened up about how he and Hunt thought through every detail of how two men would realistically have sex in real life.

"We talked about, 'Does the prince douche before they go in? Do we need to tell the audience that? Does the audience just assume that that's going on?'" he said in the interview.

The two also discussed whether Prince Henry (played by Nicholas Galitzine) would take PrEP, a prescribed medication taken to limit one's risk of contracting HIV.

"Robbie and I decided together that the prince is probably not on PrEP, because it would be too dangerous for him to ask for prescription," López said.

Because of this, they decided to show the use of condoms. "So the prince absolutely uses condoms. And because we couldn't really effectively answer the PrEP question narratively, we wanted to also just tell the story that the prince engages in safe sex practices and takes his sexual health seriously."

In doing so, López and Hunt placed condom wrappers and also lube in visible sight near the bed. The two even emptied out some of the lube to make it look like it was being used at later points in the film.

"Robbie and I were looking at it, like, 'How much [lube] would they use? Like, well, let's take it down about this much. OK, that makes sense to me.'"

As if thinking about the details wasn't already enough, López and Hunt went to the extremes of even acting out the sex scenes themselves.

"Robbie and I actually got into the bed together. There are videos that could, like, ruin both our careers. Because we were like, 'Alright, we're having sex. What are we going to do? Okay, this pillow goes here. The condom's going to land here. I'm going to do this,'" the director said.

Although these minuscule details may seem irrelevant, they're actually a big deal. Considering how TV and movies hardly ever show the use of condoms and lube, it's refreshing to see directors prioritize scenes with safe-sex practices. And really, it helps reiterate that safe sex can also be sexy sex — something a lot of other TV shows and movies haven't ventured into quite yet.

While López thinks he "probably overdid it in terms of the preparation for the scene," it looks to have paid off. One review said, "Queer love scenes are rarely this realistic — or this hot."

See for yourself and watch the love story unfold here on Amazon Prime Video.