10 Actors Who Refused To Kiss On Screen
Sometimes actors just don't feel comfortable kissing their co-stars.
There's no getting around the fact that kissing another human being is a rather intimate experience.
In real-life, finally finding yourself in a situation where you're able to lock lips with a person you're deeply attracted to - consensually, of course - is among life's many highlights. It's also something most people on the planet can relate to. This is why films of all genres often take such care and time when it comes to setting up the moment when a set of characters meet at the lips for the very first time.
However, just because it's been written down in a script or requested by a director, doesn't necessarily mean a cinematic smooch is guaranteed. If an actor doesn't feel like sharing saliva with their co-star, you better believe they're going to let the people in charge know about it.
Whether it was due to a commitment to their real-life other half, not wanting to get sick or simply not feeling it was the move for them at that moment in time, each of the following ten actors weren't interested in puckering up under the lights and sharing a snog on screen for all to see.
10. Will Smith Was Worried About What His Friends Might Think - Six Degrees Of Seperation
Long before he was the global box office powerhouse we know him as today, Will Smith was taking one of his first steps into the world of movie-making in 1993's Six Degrees of Separation.
As Paul, Smith played a hustler who also just so happened to be gay. Yet, despite the moment being in the script, the actor refused to share a kiss with co-star Anthony Michael Hall on screen. This meant that the director of the film, Fred Schepisi, was forced to think on his feet, using a stand-in and shooting only the backs of the characters' heads. Speaking around the time of the film's release, Smith admitted to Entertainment Weekly that it "was very immature on (his) part."
Going further, Smith added:
"I was thinking, ‘How are my friends in Philly going to think about this?’ I wasn’t emotionally stable enough to artistically commit to that aspect of the film."
Smith would also later remark that ducking this kiss was a "valuable lesson" for him as it taught the actor that going forward, "Either you do it or you don't."
His co-star Sir Ian McKellen commented on Smith's decision years later in a Time Out interview, saying:
"He was a charmer, and a good actor. But he did one silly thing: he refused to kiss another boy on-screen, even though it was there in the script. Which was why, at an early preview, I met him in public outside the cinema and gave him a great big kiss on the lips."
Never change, Sir Ian.