Seven years ago, Kate's role didn't exist here in Australia. Now, she's on every major film set in the country

Kate Wormald has worked with some of Hollywood's brightest stars on some of the biggest projects to come to Aussie shores.

She's worked alongside Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell on Anyone But You, Jacob Elordi and Simon Baker on Narrow Road to the Deep North, and Travis Fimmel and Phoebe Tonkin on Boy Swallows Universe.

But Wormald's role on these sets is not that of an actor, director, writer or producer. Her role is instead one that many don't realise exists.

Wormald works on these sets as an intimacy coordinator, a career she transitioned to, having already worked in the industry for three decades as a choreographer.

She tells nine.com.au that her interest in the career began in 2019 when she became aware that intimacy coordinators were often used on sets in the US and UK.

While the role hadn't quite made its way to Australia yet, Wormald realised that her skill set as a choreographer would make her the perfect candidate to be one of the first intimacy coordinators in Australia.

Kate has worked as a choreographer in the industry for 30 years before adding intimacy coordinator to her resume.

After doing a deep dive into the career, Wormald was given a scholarship to study with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC) in the US, completing her courses online during the pandemic and eventually participating in-person workshops when the heads of IDC made their way to Australia.

Soon, she became one of the first Australian professionals to obtain an intimacy coordinator qualification and start working in the role on Aussie film sets.

"Because I was very early on in Australia, a lot of the sets that I was walking onto had never had that role before," she explains.

"So it was just working out where we fit ... we're not there to change anybody's process, it's to enhance the process."

When Wormald tells people what she does for work, people often assume she simply coordinates sex scenes for film and TV, which she says is "100 per cent true", but there's a little more to it.

She explains that the scope of what "intimacy" means in her role really just "depends on the storyline".

"It can be a young family where they've got a child holding hands with their pretend family, holding a baby, childbirth, breastfeeding, prisoners of war bathing, any form of nudity, sexual assault," she says.

"Every story is so different, and I think working with every actor's boundaries is so different."

Every time she steps onto a set, Wormald's first point of call is the line producer and the director.

Many think the role is simply coordinating sex scenes, but the scope of intimacy reaches much further.

There, she finds out what the context of the story is and what the vision for the finished product looks like.

She then takes that vision to the actors to make sure they're aware and comfortable with what's going to be required of them.

"The biggest part of the role for me is communication and being that person that comes in and is on top of all of the intimacy," Wormald says.

"I go through a script analysis and make sure that everybody's consenting [and] everybody understands what the story is."

While many assume that a disagreement between director and actor might make Wormald's job a living hell, she says that as long as there's an open line of communication, it always ends in a good spot.

She's had the pleasure of working on some of the biggest film sets in Australia.

"If there needs to be any adaptations to make sure that the boundaries are upheld, usually we can find a different way of telling that story, and it always ends up being better and making sure everybody's happy and feeling comfortable," she says.

"And I think when [the actors are] feeling comfortable, then it looks amazing."

But it's not just the stars of a project that Wormald is there to support; it's the whole crew, making sure everyone is aware of what's being shot and that everyone is comfortable on set.

"You would never do a stunt scene without having a stunt coordinator ... it's the exact same process with intimacy scenes," she explains.

Wormald has been part of a major shift in the Australian film industry. And while she now works on sets, with cast and crew used to intimacy coordinators, she says the role is still sometimes misunderstood.

When she started, her role had never really existed in Australia. Now it's on almost every film and TV set.

"People think that you're there to say no to everything, and that's just not true," she says.

"We're not there to hinder anything. When everyone feels comfortable, then incredible things happen, and so you're there to absolutely lift and hold and make everybody feel like they can really fly and do their best performance because you've had all these conversations early on.

"So it's definitely something that I think people think you're there to stop everything, but you're not."

Produced in partnership with CareerOne.