TIPS of the TRADE: Kissing on Stage or Screen

When asked
what it was like to kiss young Leonardo Dicaprio in the 1995 movie, The Quick and the Dead, Sharon Stone said,

"It was about as sexy as kissing my arm."

That's why I love Sharon. Her acting skills are hit or miss (great in Casino, awful in Gloria) but she doesn't pull her punches and get all PC on everybody.

The funny thing is that back then was pretty much a boy - I remember not understanding all the leading man hoopla about him in Titanic - he looked twelve to me.

But old Leo sure has filled out quite nicely hasn't he? (She said in a distinctly cougar-ish tone) And rumor has it that he's perfected his tonsil-hockey technique by now. I'll bet Sharon wouldn't mind giving him a second chance, don't you?

I found a cool article that touches on the subject of what kissing looks hot in films ...

Kissing tips: Learn from the top 10 best kissing scenes in movies

... but as actors, we need to approach it from the actual TECHNIQUE of kissing on the stage or in front of the cameras. I've done it on stage and in a couple of indie films and I have to say ... it was REALLY EMBARRASSING.

I have been very lucky as all the guys were all quite adorable. In one staged reading, I was playing opposite a character actor I'd known a long time who was not really looked upon as a leading man - which was the whole point of the script. The guy you least suspect.

They're business partners and towards the end of the play, he finally kisses her. Not a "movie star" kiss but definitely one that said - we are no longer "just friends." 

Well, as is often the case, we never actually rehearsed the "kiss", in read-throughs we would just say, "and then we, y'know, kiss." So, finally, in the actual performance we get to that point in the script and it got real quiet and the thought flashed through my mind, "Gee, we should really have rehearsed this damn kiss."

And just when I thought, "could this get any more AWKWARD" he just leaned over and kissed me in a way that made the audience hush.

It was electric.

Sadly, he never got to play the role. His wife wouldn't let him.

Which spurs a lot of questions.


What IS chemistry?
Can you anticipate it? Can create it when it's not there? If so, how?  


WHEN DO YOU STOP???  
You don't want to ruin the scene or the take but you also don't want seem like you're really kissing the ACTOR - just the CHARACTER.

Is tongue EVER appropriate? 
I mean, it doesn't show or anything. But you also don't want it to be so pristine that it looks like you're kissing your Aunt Lucille.


Bad breath - take after take after take.
Arrrrghhhh! And what's worse, what if it's YOUR bad breath????


If you're a good kisser in life 
... does it assure you that you'll also be one on film?


Ever have to kiss someone you despise?
How did you do it? Any mind trick you can share with us?


What about gay kissing if you happen to be straight?

Or straight kissing when you are most decidedly gay? (I kissed a girl once in a play - I remember thinking - "Wow, girls' lips are sooo soft.".)


What about sex? 
Yeah, what about it? Have you ever had to do a sex scene in a film or play? If so, how did you approach it?  Do tell.

       And after all this, 

                                    can a kiss ever still be ... a kiss?

Please share with us your thoughts or experience? Can you share any tips with a fellow actor?