Young Sheldon star Emily Osment admitted that she was initially reluctant to shoot romantic scenes with her younger co-star Montana Jordan due to their 12-year age gap.
In the ABC hit sitcom, Montana plays the role of Sheldon Cooper’s older brother, Georgie, while Emily Osment portrays Mandy, an older weather forecaster who meets Georgie in season 5. The characters develop a romantic relationship, leading to an unexpected pregnancy.
In Jessica Radloff’s new book, Young Sheldon: The (Juicier-Than-Meemaw’s-Brisket) Inside Story of the Hit Comedy, Emily explained that Jordan was 18 while she was 30 when they filmed their early episodes.
Emily recalled, “That made me uncomfortable. He was a baby! A baby with a mullet.”
So, the actress noted, she had to ask for an intimacy coordinator because of the awkward situation.
”So I spoke to Tim Marx, and obviously they were not able to get one that late in the day, but for the next few episodes they had one there, since the relationship between them escalates,” Emily shared.
“It made everything easier having one there. I think it’s something that’s really important,” she remarked.
Emily further explained, “I don’t know if Montana even knew if he could ask for that. Like, let’s give him the option, too. Make him comfortable. And he’s such a sweet kid, I think he would just eat his discomfort. But I love those guys, and I’m really happy it got to the point where they were able to do that [for us].”
However, director Alex Reid admitted they “totally dropped the ball” by not having an intimacy coordinator for the kissing scenes.
“I showed it to Emily and she said, ‘Yeah, that was so uncomfortable for both of us, because we didn’t know each other.’”
Co-creator Steve Molaro also agreed with Emily that she had “every right to ask” for an intimacy coordinator.
For those unversed, Emily and Montana’s characters later became the leads of their own show, in Young Sheldon‘s spinoff series Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage.
