Kissing might look effortlessly romantic on screen, but it is one of the hardest scenes to film for some actors. For decades, Hollywood has churned out love stories featuring iconic kissing sequences.
Watching these scenes, audiences would never guess that their filming caused intense behind-the-scenes drama. From married actors feeling uncomfortable getting intimate with their co-stars to exes being forced to lock lips on screen, there have been several instances in which romantic scenes were anything but romantic on set.
One such incident occurred during the shoot of Total Recall in 2012. The film’s leads, Colin Farrell and Kate Beckinsale, had to share a passionate kiss for a scene.
Will Smith Almost Beat Tommy Davidson Up For Kissing Jada Pinkett Smith
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The shoot was particularly awkward for Farrell, as the film’s director happened to be Len Wiseman, who was married to Beckinsale at the time. While the work was strictly professional, Farrell still felt a little uncomfortable kissing Beckinsale in front of her husband.
He later revealed in an interview with Conan O’Brien, “Kissing her was a little bit dodgy, because the director… ours wasn’t kind enough to leave the room, you know, he stayed.”
Farrell still got lucky, as Wiseman did not mind his wife kissing another man for a film. Tommy Davidson was not as fortunate. During the shoot of the 1998 romantic comedy Woo, Davidson had to face the wrath of his co-star Jada Pinkett Smith’s husband, Will Smith.
The actor improvised a kiss with Jada without informing her beforehand, which angered Will. Davidson nearly ended up being beaten by Will, who followed him to his trailer.
Fortunately, Jada arrived at the scene and calmed her husband down, averting a violent incident on set. Will later gave a glimpse of his aggression when he slapped Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscars after the comedian and host made a joke about Jada.
Returning to chaotic on-screen kisses, Jennifer Lawrence was another actor who experienced an uncomfortable intimate scene. For her 2016 film Passengers, the actress had to kiss her co-star Chris Pratt, who was married at the time.
Recalling how she felt guilty about the moment, Lawrence said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “It was going to be my first time kissing a married man, and guilt is the worst feeling in your stomach.”
Then there are Jacob Elordi and Joey King, who began dating while filming Netflix’s The Kissing Booth. However, they broke up by the time Netflix announced a sequel to the film.
Nevertheless, the two still agreed to film romantic scenes and kiss each other while playing an on-screen couple. King later revealed that filming those scenes for the sequel was not easy.
tony curtis & marilyn monroe nailed the ‘kiss me on the mouth and love me like a sailor and when you get a taste can you tell me what’s my flavor’ on a very serious level… and this was from 1959 😌 pic.twitter.com/SLJJPFOOgD
— Ben ⭐️ (@BenedictaLL) May 14, 2025
Awkward kissing scenes are not a new phenomenon in Hollywood. Back in 1959, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe starred together in the crime comedy Some Like It Hot. Though sparks flew between the two initially, things eventually turned sour.
However, they still had to kiss each other for a prominent scene. Curtis later infamously said that it felt like ‘kissing Hitler’ while shooting the sequence with Monroe.
The fact that all these scenes still turned out to be iconic proves that actors often go to great lengths for their work, setting aside personal feelings and doing whatever the script demands.
