Actors Finally Spill the Truth About Their Best and Worst On-Screen Kisses

Despite what you might think watching the finished product, on-screen kisses are almost never as romantic as they appear. Throw in a large film crew and round after round of retakes, and those so-called intimate moments become anything but. Plenty of actors handle it gracefully and go out of their way to put their co-stars at ease, while others show far less consideration. Some even seem to take pleasure in making the whole experience as unpleasant as possible!

Browse through the gallery below to find out who earned rave reviews and who really should have reached for a breath mint first!

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown and Finn Wolfhard shot to stardom as teenagers playing the leads in Netflix’s wildly popular series ‘Stranger Things.’ Both were only 12 years old when they had to shoot their first kissing scene together, and neither of them looks back on it fondly. Brown became a talking point online in 2022 after being put on the spot about Wolfhard’s kissing ability during a lie detector segment for Vanity Fair. The interviewer asked whether Finn was simply a bad kisser after she had reportedly shouted “Kissing sucks!” following their first attempt. She confirmed he was, and the machine backed her up.

Wolfhard was eventually given a chance to respond when he appeared on ‘The Drew Barrymore Show.’ He admitted the more accurate description of what happened was that he head-butted her. “I was 12, so I’ll excuse it,” he said. “I’d probably have done the same thing if I was not on screen in front of the entire world.”

Natalie Portman

Chris Hemsworth went above and beyond to help his ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ co-star Natalie Portman feel comfortable on set. Hemsworth, like many actors in the Marvel universe, follows a rigorous diet heavy in protein, particularly meat, to maintain his physical condition. Yet on the specific day their kissing scene was scheduled, he chose to avoid meat altogether as a gesture of respect toward his vegan co-star. Portman spoke warmly about this in an interview, noting how thoughtful she found the gesture even though it was not something she had asked for or expected. “He’s a very nice person,” she said simply.

Co-star Tessa Thompson admitted she was genuinely stunned to hear this, joking that she had no idea Hemsworth was even capable of skipping meat for a single meal. She playfully suggested the man practically survives on bison.

Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf ended up revealing his favorite on-screen kiss under conditions that left him little room to think clearly. He was competing in a game of ‘Burning Questions’ on ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ where every answer had to be given right after taking a bite of an extraordinarily spicy chili pepper.

Dakota Johnson

With tears likely in his eyes, he admitted his all-time favorite on-screen kiss was with Dakota Johnson, his co-star in the indie comedy ‘Peanut Butter Falcon.’ He described her as a sweetheart, which by all appearances he genuinely meant.

Zac Efron

During promotional interviews for ‘The Greatest Showman,’ Zac Efron wasted no time declaring that the kiss he shared on screen with Zendaya ranked among the best of his career.

Zendaya

Efron pointed to the emotional charge between their characters as the source of a real, almost electric connection. Zendaya agreed wholeheartedly, describing every scene between the two characters as something truly and deeply special.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon pulled no punches when sharing her experience of kissing Robert Pattinson on the set of ‘Water for Elephants.’ Her review was blunt and unflattering: “It wasn’t appealing; it wasn’t pleasant.”

Robert Pattinson

The explanation, it turns out, is that Pattinson was battling a severe head cold throughout production and spent every moment of filming visibly struggling to breathe through his blocked nose. Not exactly ideal conditions for romance.

Ryan Reynolds

Ryan Reynolds found himself fielding a question about what it was actually like to kiss co-star Anna Kendrick for the film ‘The Voices.’

Anna Kendrick

His response was characteristically enthusiastic. He said the experience was “like taking your face to Awesometown.” Difficult to top that as a compliment.

Emma Watson

For Emma Watson, her most stressful on-screen kiss happened to be the one that millions of fans had been waiting years to see. Whatever magic existed between Ron and Hermione on screen clearly did not carry over to real life.

Rupert Grint

Watson admitted she had worked herself into a state of near-panic before filming the scene with Rupert Grint. By the time they actually got to shooting it, she launched herself at him so suddenly that he had absolutely no time to prepare.

Morena Baccarin

Morena Baccarin plays the central love interest in the ‘Deadpool’ franchise. Given that Ryan Reynolds has at various points been recognized as one of the most attractive men on the planet, one might assume the kissing scenes were a highlight.

Liam Hemsworth

Liam Hemsworth singled out his ‘Hunger Games’ co-star and off-screen friend Jennifer Lawrence as the person responsible for his worst on-screen kissing experience.

Jennifer Lawrence

Lawrence, never one to miss an opportunity for a good prank, made it a personal mission to eat either tuna or garlic immediately before filming every single one of their shared kissing scenes.

Selena Gomez

By Selena Gomez’s own account, her first on-screen kiss was nothing short of a nightmare. She was twelve years old and appearing as a guest on the Disney Channel production ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.’

Dylan Sprouse

Standing in front of a full production crew, she had to lean in and kiss Dylan Sprouse on camera. She recalled closing her eyes a beat too soon and completely missing the center of his mouth. The cringe factor was apparently off the charts.

Josh Hutcherson

Josh Hutcherson also has the distinction of having his very first kiss captured entirely on film. He was younger still, just eleven years old when it happened.

Paula Patton

Paula Patton appeared alongside Tom Cruise in the high-octane action sequel ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,’ and her memory of their kissing scene was notably more pleasant than most stories in this collection.

Tom Cruise

What surprised her most was Cruise’s breath, which she described as simply perfect rather than artificially minty. In her words, it was the kind of detail that only a truly prepared and professional actor would bother getting right.

Dane Cook

Dane Cook publicly named Kate Hudson as the source of his single worst on-screen kissing experience, citing their scenes together in ‘My Best Friend’s Girl.’ He alleged she deliberately loaded up on onions before every take. Hudson has never offered a response to the claim, so how much weight one chooses to give it is entirely up to the reader.

Tobey Maguire

The rain-soaked, upside-down kiss between Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in ‘Spider-Man’ has gone down in cinema history as one of the most visually striking romantic moments ever filmed. The reality of shooting it, however, was far less poetic.

Kirsten Dunst

Maguire described the scene as genuinely one of the most physically demanding moments in the entire production. Suspended upside down with water streaming into his nose, he also had to contend with the mask being peeled back in a way that left him struggling to get any air at all.

Penn Badgley

Penn Badgley holds the unusual distinction of having both his best and worst on-screen kissing memories connected to the same person.

Blake Lively

While the two were a real couple during the production of ‘Gossip Girl,’ their scripted romantic scenes felt natural and genuinely enjoyable. After the relationship ended in real life, they were still contractually required to kiss on camera, which transformed those same scenes into something far more uncomfortable.

Miles Teller

Adding to the list of co-stars undone by questionable pre-scene snack choices, Miles Teller described his kissing scenes with Shailene Woodley in ‘The Spectacular Now’ as a genuinely unpleasant experience.

Shailene Woodley

Teller’s complaint centered on the herbal supplements Woodley was taking at the time, which he claimed left a taste that “tasted like cr*p” on her breath before every scene. Woodley countered that Teller was no better, given his habit of downing Gatorade before each take, a flavor she found equally off-putting. By all accounts, not a pairing destined for kissing compatibility.

Featured Image : Instagram/blakelively