Bayley Turner first watched soap opera Neighbours as a teenager in the mid-90s, during the Libby and Billy Kennedy era.
She never imagined then that she would find herself on the set as an adult, working as an intimacy coordinator.
"To be part of something as culturally iconic as Neighbours has been a very steep learning curve, but an incredible honour," Turner says.
As a proud queer trans woman, she particularly loves collaborating with the first trans person to appear in a trans role on the show, Georgie Stone.
"It's a very sacred memory to me, that first time we saw each other on set and feeling, 'I'm not the only one in the space,'" Turner says.
"Because we, as trans people, are so used to being the only one of us in the room, seeing someone else like Georgie, who is an incredible human being, can have a monumental impact."
It's not just sex scenes – pretty infrequent on Ramsay Street – that require an intimacy coordinator.
"We don't just come at it from a romantic or sexual standpoint," Turner says.
"It's also valuable in any kind of scene where power dynamics are disparate. If we have an actor who is simulating unconsciousness or death, that person is very vulnerable because they can't respond to what's happening around them. Or any scene with a minor."
Turner has also helped facilitate intimate scenes between trans and cisgender actors.
"Knowing that the person helping you build that trust is someone who understands your experience and the significance of what that moment means to you, as a trans person, is potent," she says.
"It also helps the cis actor feel secure that someone is supporting them in understanding what they need to know to work effectively and safely. So, it's good for everybody."
Intimacy in a post #MeToo era
Turner will share her knowledge about being an intimacy coordinator at this year's 10th anniversary edition of the Melbourne Trans and Gender Diverse Film Festival, known as tilde.
She will host the Women on Set session alongside a panel of trans actors, including Māori performer Ramon Te Wake (Rūrangi), Filipino non-binary stage star Dax Carnay-Hanrahan (Transwoman Kills Influencer) and Gunggari, Lardil and Kullilli actor Thea Raveneau (A Savage Christmas).
"It's an honour to sit down with incredible trans women of colour and discuss our respective experiences in various echelons of the industry," Turner says.
"It's only going to prompt more people to take a chance on themselves and believe that there's a place for them in this sector, because there absolutely is."
Turner herself got started in independent theatre in Adelaide.
"It's such a unique sort of industry where people are simulating relationships all the time and can create an over-familiarity," she says.
"I observed a lot, in my early career, what we now understand can be the pitfalls of the industry and I found them quite challenging, so I took a bit of a step out."
Turner was halfway through a master's degree in the cultural and creative industries and had writtena show about consent for the Adelaide Fringe when the #MeToo movement hit the headlines in 2017.
The widespread accusations in the arts industry helped propel the nascent role of the intimacy coordinator to the forefront of the global conversation.
"I was more interested in the broader sense of educating actors in consent and sexual violence prevention practices," Turner says.
"Because what was causing the most grievous harm didn't happen necessarily on a set or stage. It also happened behind the scenes or at the afterparties, during rehearsals or costume fittings.
"So there needed to be a broader culture of consent-based practice that an intimacy coordinator could come into."
Opening doors for others
Indianapolis-born, Melbourne-based Cessalee Smith-Stovall, who also started as an intimacy coordinator in theatre, opened the door for Turner to join the Neighbours team.
"When Cessalee stepped into the Neighbours role, she asked me to come along with her," Turner says.
"She's gone on to other incredible things, and that's given me the opportunity to make it my own. When you're making a soap opera, you have to create really solid relationships and make space for a lot of trust because things are moving so quickly."
Turner is also in demand for stage shows across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US, including The Lewis Trilogy at Sydney's Griffin Theatre Company and The Almighty Sometimes at the Melbourne Theatre Company, juggling these commitments with Neighbours. She never takes the opportunities for granted.
"It's one of those situations where you have to work on your humility muscle. I'm very passionate about my job and take it very seriously," she says.
"I feel very called to do it because of my ability to hold space and be vulnerable in order to elicit the kind of vulnerability that allows people to learn and evolve. I think part of that comes from being a trans person in the space, and there aren't that many trans or queer people in this role."
Turner hopes to see more join her.
"It's about letting any trans person who wants to work in this industry know that they can step into the sector with confidence," she says.
"Not just because they're an individual with a heart on fire who has a phenomenal amount of drive and determination, but because they are buoyed into this industry by their community, and they go in with the applause of hundreds and thousands of their colleagues into the roles they were born to fill."
Tilde runs from May 3-5 at Footscray Community Arts Centre.
The Almighty Sometimes runs until May 18 at Melbourne Theatre Company.
