Sex is fairly common in video games today, and with graphic technology where it’s at, you’re probably aware that someone in one of those skin-tight suits with balls is having to fake getting down and dirty for you to ogle at the digital rendition of bumping and grinding.
However, according to casting director and former capture performer Jessica Jeffries, performers are often left in the dark about these scenes. Some studios might only inform the performers of the context of a scene on the day of shooting.
“We’d get an email or a call from a studio saying we need you on these days for a shoot,” Jefferies told the BBC. “That was all the information we’d get.”
Jefferies explained one harrowing incident where she had to act out a sexual assault scene with no prior warning. “I turned up and was told what I would be filming would be a graphic rape scene,” she said. “This 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 just purely gratuitous in my opinion.”
Jefferies refused to act out the scene, which wasn’t recorded. She is now trying to fight for performers getting some transparency about the type of scenes they’ll be taking part in before they’re effectively forced into scenes they’d rather not do. Of course, there are many great developers and studios who tackle these types of scenes properly, with intimacy coordinators and proper notice given, but it seems more needs to be done across the industry.