A request made early in the relationship's arc
Emily Osment, who played Mandy McAllister on Young Sheldon, asked for an intimacy coordinator during the early stretch of her character's romance with George Cooper, played by Montana Jordan. In Jessica Radloff's new book about the making of the comedy, Osment explains that the age difference between the two performers bothered her: Jordan was 18 when they shot their first episodes together, while she was 30.[S1][S2][S3][S4][S5]
Osment said she took the matter to Tim Marx and that a coordinator could not be arranged in time for that day's work. One was present for the episodes that followed, as the on-screen relationship grew more central, and she described the effect as making the work simpler for everyone involved. She also argued that such support matters in general, not only in this instance.[S1]
She went on to say she was unsure whether Jordan realized he could make such a request himself, and that she wanted him to have the choice and to feel at ease. Osment described her co-star as a kind young man who might have absorbed his own discomfort rather than voice it, and said she was glad the production reached a point where both of them had that backing.[S1]
The show's team acknowledges a gap
Director Alex Reid said the production had overlooked the need for such support because the CBS series did not include sex scenes, and that this amounted to a failure on the kissing scenes between Osment and Jordan. Reid recalled a photograph taken between takes of the two sitting in a car and looking in opposite directions, and said Osment agreed the moment had been awkward for both of them because they barely knew each other.[S1]
Reid stressed that the difficulty was not simply the absence of a coordinator but the basic task of filming a kissing scene with a near stranger. The pair eventually found a working rapport, Reid said, though the memory of that day remained embarrassing. Co-creator Steve Molaro said Osment was fully entitled to make the request and that in the end she worked without a coordinator once she felt comfortable.[S1]
The fictional couple now anchors a separate series, Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage. According to the book, the network initially had reservations about building a show around a relationship with so wide an age difference, a topic Radloff also examines.[S1]
