Charlene McKenna said having an intimacy coordinator on Clean Sweep made the steamy scenes more “embarrassing and awkward” with co-star Barry Ward.
The award-winning actress famed for roles in Peaky Blinders, Holding and Vienna Blood has played sexy scenes with – and without – a third person in the room.
Her latest RTE drama Clean Sweep follows mum-of-three Shelly Mohan, played by McKenna, who’s desperately trying to cover her tracks after shooting someone dead.
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Opening up on sex scenes with on-screen husband Ward, who plays detective Jason Mohan, Charlene, 39, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Me and Barry know each other really well.
“So then when you added in an intimacy co-ordinator, it made it more awkward.
“I’ve always felt OK doing those scenes but it depends on who you’re acting with.
“They have words for things, sometimes it just makes you so embarrassed.
“You’re like, ‘can we just do it and get it over with’.”
The Monaghan star is no stranger to steamy sex scenes, having featured in a threesome in RTE series Pure Mule almost two decades ago.
She said: “It’s been funny to have been on both sides of the industry to see this emerge.
“I’ve done many sex scenes without intimacy coordinators and many sex scenes with them.
“Overall I would say yes, they should be there.”
Recalling the controversy those Pure Mule scenes caused, she added: “If you actually break it down and think about what we did, we just kissed.
“But if you compare it to something like Bridgerton we were pale in comparison. But the idea of it had everyone melted back then.”
Charlene married Ozark actor Adam Rothenberg in Castle Leslie in January 2021.
The pair met on the set of Ripper Street in 2012.
Down to earth Charlene, who splits her time between New York and Monaghan, revealed she helped insulate the barn on her parents’ farm where the newlyweds currently live.
She said: “Myself and Adam personally installed the insulation.
“I used to lay floors with Daddy. I’m a very handy person.
“I find DIY very satisfying and you don’t have to offer up the job to a bunch of people to do it for you.
“I love mucking around on the farm, But I spend so much time in farm dog clothes – I love glam clothes.”
At the height of her career over a decade ago, the Bloodlands star suffered two breakdowns from too much “external and internal pressure”.
Opening up about her mental health at the time she said was cathartic.
She added: “People wondered why I talked about it.
“I said, ‘Well I wouldn’t have a problem talking about breaking my leg’.
“So if we’re saying we’re getting rid of the stigma, and we’re saying that it’s nothing to be ashamed of, in inverted commas, then why is it a big deal to talk about it?
“I get it, it’s very revealing and very vulnerable.
“But it’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s a period of an illness or a hard time that was about your head and not your ankle.
“You don’t have to go into the minutiae of it, but just that overall there was a problem.”
The actress has workarounds if she can’t get to meet her counsellor in person.
She explained: “I still go to her. But I’m very aware that it’s a luxury to be able to have.
“If I can’t talk to her, I talk to her in my head. You never know what’s around the corner.
“But at least I feel very settled, I feel I’ve got way more tools and awareness. That’s half the battle.” The talented actress is equally at ease with her age as she heads for the “big four-oh”.
She said: “I wouldn’t go back for anything.
“Now I realise when I was younger I didn’t have to go around with a Q tip taking it out of the cracks.
“There is an extra layer of the make-up process I didn’t have to do before. But I don’t care more than I do care, it’s very relaxing.”
Viewers will see Shelly taking even more risks in a desperate attempt to cover up her crime in tonight’s episode of Clean Sweep.
Charlene has little in common with her enigmatic on-screen character, but admits she is “freakishly” neat and tidy. She said: “I’m a bit like Shelly in that regard. My cup handles all face the same direction.
“Because my mind is so busy, I do meditation and all that, but I then like my environment to be calm.”
Charlene has two IFTA wins, six nominations and an outstanding actress in a mini-series award at the Monte Carlo
TV Festival for Whistleblower in 2009 to her name.
But she quipped: “I don’t have any ego walls. All my awards are up in Mammy and Daddy’s house. Me, I love books and dogs and blankets.”
Charlene said it was “freeing” to take on an animated role in A Greyhound of a Girl which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.
The in-demand actress revealed: “I was with Mia Farrow who plays the little girl.
“We recorded separately so I never got to work with Brendan [Gleeson].
“I worked with Brendan years ago, I remember watching him in real life thinking that’s how I want to conduct myself when I grow up – how he was on set and how he was with the crew.”
She also acted on stage with Paul Mescal in The Great Gatsby, remarking: “His trajectory is astounding. The speed of it, I mean, his head must be on backwards.”
Feeling “empowered” after starring in and executive producing Clean Sweep, the actress feels content.
She concluded: “I remember a friend of mine saying, I don’t think I grew up, I grew in. I think that’s where I’m at.
“I hope it doesn’t come across as smug, but I have a contentedness.
“There’s such a preoccupation with being happy, it’s an unachievable end game, it doesn’t exist, it’s a constant shift in sands.
“You’ll get the really sad moments and happy moments, But if you can ebb somewhere in the middle I think that’s everything.”
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