Sometimes actors’ on-screen chemistry seems so natural that we’re convinced they get along just as well when the cameras stop rolling. But these behind-the-scene secrets of some of your favorite kiss scenes reveal how things can get weird when one or both actors don’t want to smooch their co-star. And other times, the opposite takes place: some of the best kisses on the screen were unscripted and never supposed to happen! So take a seat somewhere cool because things are about to get steamy.
Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt
Jennifer Lawrence was apprehensive about kissing costar Chris Pratt during the filming of Passengers. She and the actor were close friends off-screen, but she was also friends with Pratt’s wife, Anna Faris. She said that she felt guilty kissing a married man. Before she and Pratt were set to film their kissing scene when making the movie, she reportedly even consulted with her mother about what she should do in the situation.
Lawrence eventually gave in to the scene, but not before employing the help of a couple of cocktails to get her through it. We imagine her mom also provided some emotional support.
Will Smith and Anthony Hall
While filming the movie Six Degrees of Separation in the early 1990s, Will Smith refused to share an on-set kiss with costar Anthony Hall. In the movie, Smith played a gay character but reportedly tried to get out of filming the kissing scene. He even tried to talk the director into filming the scene from behind, which would have allowed for either a body double or for it to appear as if the two had kissed without actually doing it.
Despite this, Smith expressed regret for the incident years later. He said that he was not in the right place mentally at the time of filming and insinuated that he would do things differently today.
Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin
Some might be surprised to hear that the onscreen chemistry between Ryan Reynolds and Morena Baccarin in Deadpool wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Despite the two having no animosity toward one another, Baccarin has said the kissing scenes in the movie were difficult to film. She chalked this up to the Deadpool’s costume, which she said was like kissing a giant latex condom. “It basically just smells like rubber the entire time,” she said.
She went on to say that it was extremely challenging trying to act while Reynolds was wearing the costume, which just goes to show that it doesn’t matter who your costar is if they smell like rubber and latex. But it seems like some other kissing scenes were much easier to handle.
Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth
Next, we have another moment in film history involving someone’s bad breath. This incident occurred while Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence were filming on The Hunger Games set. Hemsworth was apparently reluctant to kiss the trilogy star throughout filming because he said that she had bad breath. However, this one comes with a caveat as Lawrence was eating garlic and tuna before kissing scenes on purpose throughout the movie.
She and Hemsworth were fairly close in real life, and apparently, she didn’t want any onscreen chemistry seeping into the two’s real-life friendship. So, she made every kissing scene as unbearable as she could. How sweet.
Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson’s film Water for Elephants saw the two share a romantic onscreen kiss. However, Witherspoon was reluctant to go through with it initially and probably even during the incident. Pattinson had come down with a pretty bad cold at the time, and Witherspoon, not wanting to get sick, initially declined to film the scene. She described the cold as “the most hideous, horrible cold of any costar I’ve ever had to do a love scene with ever in my entire life.”
However, she eventually relented, and the kiss was filmed. Witherspoon didn’t forget the incident, though, saying that Pattinson was sniffling through the love scene. Certainly not the best way to catch a cold, but probably not the worst either.
Vanessa Hudgens and James Franco
Vanessa Hudgens’s post-Disney phase saw the young actor take plenty of risks and roles some might consider risque. While filming for one of those roles in the movie Spring Breakers, Hudgens shared a kiss with actor James Franco. However, she later recalled that it was one of the worst experiences of her career up to that point. She also said that she was much more comfortable kissing a woman than kissing Franco.
Despite some of the recent news about Franco and harassment allegations, Hudgens chalked the experience up to just being awkward. Right after the film, she reportedly told her agent that she would never do that again.
Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt
This one is a bit weirder when looking from the outside in. During filming for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Brad Pitt apparently expressed his reluctance to kiss Cate Blanchett. Pitt cited the respect he had for his wife Angelina Jolie but with him having done numerous romantic scenes in the past while in a relationship, some fans were quick to dismiss this reasoning. Some suspected that something might have been going on in his and Jolie’s relationship at the time.
Pitt eventually gave in, though, and he and Blanchett went on to share a kiss in the movie. It’s safe to say the pair’s shared kiss played a large role in solidifying their character’s onscreen romance.
Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan
While most people know Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel from their on-screen characters in How I Met Your Mother, what many don’t know is that Hannigan was actually pretty apprehensive about kissing Segel. Apparently, she couldn’t stand Segel’s smoking habit and refused to kiss the actor until he quit the habit. At first, Segel would pay $10 for every cigarette he smoked, but this quickly added up, and eventually, the actor quit smoking for good.
The two were smooth sailing after Segel quit, but one wouldn’t be able to tell any of this just by looking at the two’s on-screen characters, Lily and Marshall. But, we guess getting Segel to drop smoking altogether was certainly a positive outcome.
Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley
Apparently, Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley both had issues with kissing the other during filming on set for The SpectacularNow, a movie that came out in 2013. According to Teller, Woodley was taking Chinese herbal supplements at the time, which left her with bad breath and a reluctant costar. However, the feeling was apparently mutual as something Teller was drinking turned Woodley off of the two’s kissing scenes.
Woodley said that her costar’s habit of continually drinking Gatorade was a huge turnoff. However, the two did at least manage to pull off the appearance of chemistry in the film.
Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling
This one is for all the fans of The Notebook out there. Stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams may have had onscreen chemistry during the film, but things got off to a very cold start. Gosling reportedly couldn’t stand working with McAdams at the time and said he didn’t even want to be in the same room as her. He even suggested that she be replaced at one point during the filming.
After refusing to kiss her, something must have changed because the two would eventually go on to have a two-year relationship with each other. Which, when looking at the chemistry apparent in the film, really isn’t all that surprising.
Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan
Charlie Sheen’s partying antics are public knowledge now, but apparently, they have always been out in the open. During the filming of Scary Movie 5, Lindsay Lohan reportedly refused to kiss the actor because of his partying lifestyle. And, unlike some others on this list, the producers gave in to her demands. The scenes you see of the two actors kissing in the movie actually involve that of a body double for Lohan.
The good news is that Sheen was unoffended by her request. We can understand why the actor might be sympathetic to the situation, considering he knows best what’s happening behind closed doors.
Candace Cameron Bure and Every Kissing Scene
When filming for Netflix’s Fuller House, Candace Cameron Bure expressed reluctance for just about any kissing scene involving her costars. Bure is deeply religious, and while she eventually went through with her kissing scenes, she apparently made it known that she did not enjoy them. But, the discomfort doesn’t stop there, and the actor has said that she is not comfortable with any kind of intimate scene involving other actors.
Bure has said that the discomfort has only gotten stronger as she has grown older and that she plans to do away with any scene involving kissing sometime in the future. Her husband is also apparently uncomfortable with the scenes.
Janet Jackson and Tupac
Jackson starred beside the legendary rapper Tupac Shukar during the filming of 1995’s Poetic Justice. While the two were set to film a kissing scene, Jackson expressed her concern about Shukar’s party-heavy lifestyle. She asked that the rapper get tested for AIDS before filming the kiss. At the time, it wasn’t known that the virus couldn’t be contracted through a kiss. However, the rapper was apparently insulted by the request.
He refused to take a test, but despite her worries, she was forced to film the kissing scene anyway. This whole thing is somewhat surprising considering the two’s onscreen chemistry in the movie.
Ian Somerhalder and Nina Dobrev
This incident is a good example of why you should never get romantically involved with your coworkers. While filming for The Vampire Diaries, Nina Dobrev and Ian Somerhalder were in a relationship. However, the two broke things off in the middle of the series and, from there on out, refused to partake in any scenes involving kissing. This was after the two were reportedly uncomfortable doing kissing scenes even while in a relationship.
So, as you might imagine, any kissing scenes were pretty nonexistent after the two called it quits. The breakup also seemed to affect their on-screen chemistry together, with some saying it dropped off afterward.
Sienna Miller and James Franco
When filming on the set of Camille, Sienna Miller suddenly pulled out of a kissing scene with costar James Franco. Miller had apparently been struggling with dental issues for a while and suddenly had a flare-up right before the mentioned scene was set to be filmed. Though we do not know what kind of issues she had, it was apparently enough of an emergency to pull out of the scene last minute.
She also kept the reasoning for her decision from her cast members, declining to give anyone any details about why she suddenly had a change of heart about the scene.
Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte
The 1994 rom-com I Love Trouble starred actors Julia Roberts and Nick Nolte, whose characters develop a romantic relationship after working together to solve a mystery. However, during filming, the two reportedly detested one another and did pretty much everything in their power to make filming on set awkward for everyone. Things between the two eventually got so bad that they refused to film with one another, and the crew had to use stand-ins to make it appear as though they were filming together.
However, when it came time to film a scene where the two characters kissed, neither could avoid each other any longer, and they finally sat down to film the kiss.
Tisha Campbell and Martin Lawrence
The popular 1990s show Martin, starring Martin Lawrence and Tisha Campbell, saw the two actors get off to a warm start. However, something happened as the show progressed, and Campbell eventually grew to hate Lawrence in real life. She even refused to kiss him anymore during filming. She went on to file a harassment lawsuit against Lawrence, alleging verbal abuse, sexual battery, and sexual harassment. However, the two went on to reconcile years later.
In an interview with GQ, Lawrence would later cite the lawsuit as why he ended the show. He also denied the allegations without going into any specifics at the time.
Thandie Newton and Gerard Butler
As far as reasons for not wanting to kiss a costar go, this one is pretty mild. Thandie Newton and Gerard Butler were all set to film a kissing scene for the movie RocknRolla, but Butler turned up to the set with a stifling cold right before. Newton, not wanting to catch what Butler had, refused to take part in the kiss and told the film’s director to find another way to film the scene.
The director did just that and actually figured out a pretty clever way to appease Newton’s demand. In the end, everything worked out for the best, and Newton didn’t end up catching a runny nose.
Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts
When filming 1993’s Pelican Brief with Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington unexpectedly pulled out of a scene featuring a kiss with Roberts. However, it was not due to bad breath or any bitterness he felt towards her. Instead, Washington cited moral reasons for pulling out of the kiss. He said that Black women weren’t given the credit that they were due, and if he’d kissed Roberts, then he would’ve turned off a large portion of his fans.
Later, Roberts would go on to say during an interview that cutting the scene was all Washington’s idea and that she was ready and looking forward to their scene together.
Rob Lowe and Jewel
This one actually got off to a pretty great start, all things considered, before spiraling downward. During the casting of The Lyon’s Den, actor Rob Lowe asked for Jewel to be cast as his character’s love interest. However, when it came time for the kissing scene, for some reason, she expressed her hesitancy before asking that the kissing be thrown out entirely. However, the actress eventually agreed to film it, and the two shared an on-screen kiss.
The whole ordeal was apparently damaging to Lowe’s ego, however, and he would go on to share the story on Ellen Degeneres’ show. Ellen even attempted to make things right by giving the actor a kiss on the show.
Erin Bethea and Kirk Cameron
Like Cameron Candice Bure, Kirk Cameron is religious and pretty much dislikes getting too close to any costars on set. Cameron vowed never to kiss another woman after marrying his wife, Chelsea Noble, which he apparently stuck to. During the filming of 2008’s Fireproof, Cameron was supposed to be filmed kissing his costar, Erin Bethea. However, the producer came up with a clever way to sub in Cameron’s wife for the scene.
They disguised his wife as Bethea and filmed the scene as a silhouette. This allowed the show to keep filming while also managing to make sure Cameron didn’t break his vows. Not all actors want to lock lips with their costars, but these next costars got so caught up in the moment, it made other people on set a little uncomfortable.
Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams Share An Unscripted Kiss
If American Hustle’s kiss between Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams seemed unexpected at the time, then that’s because it was. Even the film’s director was caught off guard when the two actors shared an intimate moment on set. Adams said that she had planned the kiss and brought it up with the director. However, he did not have any idea when it might occur or what might lead up to it.
It just so happened that it came in the middle of a very tense scene when the two actors’ characters are arguing in a bathroom. Adams would later go on to praise her fellow actor for committing and sticking with the scene.
Tommy Davidson and Jada Pinkett Smith
A fight almost erupted after a scene featuring Tommy Davidson and Jada Pinkett Smith went very off-script. Davidson and Smith had agreed to dance during the finale of Woo. However, Davidson then leaned in for a kiss, catching Smith by surprise. It also caught her husband, Will Smith, by surprise, who happened to be on set that day. In his autobiography, Davidson has said that he didn’t think it was a big deal at the time.
However, he added that Will felt differently. But things eventually calmed down before coming to blows, and the three are now really good friends.