That time Riley Keough almost killed Andrew Garfield.

For actors who are required to get intimate with their co-stars, it can be a very... interesting experience.

And while we – the viewers – might love to watch romance bloom on screen, it doesn't mean the stars enjoy the experience. 

In fact, there are some actors who absolutely despised smooching their co-stars... and others who very nearly killed their co-stars when they kissed. Like Riley Keough, who recently revealed she almost gave Andrew Garfield the kiss of death...

Here are 12 actors who had serious kissing issues.

Riley Keough and Andrew Garfield.

Image: A24.

An awkward kiss is one thing. A kiss that might kill your co-star though? That's... vastly more uncomfortable. But it's exactly what happened to Riley Keough when she was gearing up to share an on-screen kiss with Andrew Garfield in their 2018 movie, Under the Silver Lake. 

“I was in the makeup trailer and I was eating like a granola bar or something, and I was about to shoot a scene where I have to kiss Andrew, and the makeup lady was like, ‘Are there peanuts in that?’ And I was like, ‘I think. I don’t know,’” she shared in a Vanity Fair interview.

The makeup artist went and got a producer, who informed Keough that, basically, if she went anywhere near Garfield he might go into anaphylactic shock. Which, you know, can be deadly.

“Riley, Andrew’s very allergic to peanuts and we have to shut the set down," the producer told the star.

“I don’t know why they’re on set."

Jennifer Aniston and Alec Baldwin.

30 Rock. Image: Stan.

Alec Baldwin - who worked alongside Jennifer Aniston when she made an appearance in 30 Rock - said kissing his co-star was "painful".

"It was painful," he described in 2008 to the Huff Post. "I mean, every man who’s had to make out with her in TV and movies, I don’t know how they do it."

According to Glamour, the Friends actor had a smoking and coffee addiction. 

Zoe Saldana and Orlando Bloom.

Haven, 2004. Image: El Camino Pictures. 

In 2004, Orlando Bloom and Zoe Saldana starred together in the crime drama Haven. 

The film was filled with violence and romance and Bloom admits one of the most difficult parts in filming Haven was having to kiss Saldana... because of her boyfriend. 

He told People he "hated kissing Zoe" because her partner at the time would show up on set to watch their scenes together. 

"I was like, 'Take your tongue out of my mouth, please. Your boyfriend is standing right there,'" he recalled. "Most people think kissing beautiful co-stars must be great. But it’s always awkward, man."

Kate Hudson and Dane Cook.

My Bestfriend's Girl, 2008. Image: Lionsgate.

In a new interview, Hudson sat down for a Vanity Fair lie-detector test, where she answered honestly on her thoughts about kissing Dane Cook - her co-star in the 2008 film, My Bestfriend's Girl.

"Oh, no ... no. Cancelled!" the actor said with a laugh after making a face when presented with a photo of Cook.

Her response followed eight years after he called Hudson his worst on-screen kiss in an interview on Watch What Happens Live.

"I think she purposely ate like a feast of onions before our scene," Cook said at the time. "I had to burn her on that one!"

Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy.

Wanted, 2008. Image: Universal Pictures.

On the 2008 film Wanted, actor James McAvoy admitted he didn't particularly enjoy kissing his love interest in the film, Angelina Jolie. 

"I can tell you what it was like to kiss her on a film set. It was awkward, sweaty and not very nice," he revealed. 

Marilyn Monroe and Tony Curtis.

Some Like It Hot, 1958. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

When actor Tony Curtis was asked what it was like to kiss Marilyn Monroe in the 1958 film Some Like It Hot, he likened it to "kissing Hitler". He later rectified the situation... slightly. 

"I said it as a joke. I mean, it was such a darn stupid question, so I gave a stupid answer," he said. 

But the actor later admitted he didn't enjoy the kiss at all, saying: "It was awful. She nearly choked me to death by deliberately sticking her tongue down my throat into my windpipe." 

Despite all that, Curtis alleged in his memoir published in 2009 that the pair shared a brief romance that he described as "unforgettable".

Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth.

The Hunger Games, 2012. Image: Lionsgate.

After Australian actor Liam Hemsworth revealed his Hunger Games co-star's breath smelled like "garlic," Jennifer Lawrence came clean and explained the situation. 

She told Access Hollywood: "I was never like, 'Hey Liam, I just ate tuna and garlic on purpose!' I just would happen to eat something. I didn't change the way I was eating for the kissing, which is different than eating something on purpose. Is it worse?!"

She added that if she was kissing Christian Bale or Bradley Cooper, she would definitely "brush my teeth. I'll pop a mint." 

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

Revolutionary Road, 2008. Image: Paramount.

In filming intimate scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of Revolutionary Road, Kate Winslet admitted it felt "a bit weird" to do while her then husband, Sam Mendes, was sitting in the director's chair. 

"It was more that neither Sam nor Leo seemed the slightest bit bothered," Winslet recalled. "I was like, 'Is it just me who feels a bit weird about this?' You know. My friend. My husband."

Kate Beckinsale and Colin Farrell.

Total Recall, 2012. Image: Columbia Pictures.

Colin Farrell felt similarly to Winslet, who felt the slightest bit uncomfortable kissing his co-star Kate Beckinsale on the 2012 Total Recall remake. 

Len Wiseman was the film’s director... and Beckinsale's husband. 

"Kissing her was a little bit dodgy because the director, her husband, wasn’t kind enough to leave the room," Farrell later admitted. "Being a director he had to watch the scene, which was a little bit creepy."

Kirsten Dunst and Brad Pitt.

Interview with the Vampire, 1994. Image: Warner Bros.

In Interview with the Vampire, Kirsten Dunst got to kiss Brad Pitt. However, considering she was just 11 years old at the time, it was a terrible experience for the actor. 

"That was the worst thing I did and also having obviously to kiss Brad Pitt at that point," she told Vanity Fair. "I was a little girl and he was like a brother to me and it was very weird even though it was a peck. I was very not into it."

Thandiwe Newton and Tom Cruise.

Mission Impossible 2, 2000. Image: Paramount Pictures.

Thandiwe Newton's character may have been infatuated with Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) in the 2000 film, Mission Impossible, but in real life Newton admitted to finding their intimate scenes "slightly icky and a little bit wet."

She admitted that they often had to take so many scenes of them kissing, that she would go home at the end of the day "moaning" about it.

Newton also shared how difficult it is to be romantic with a full production crew in the room.

"You're lying there, you've got 30 people around you, prodding all bits of you to make sure that certain things aren't being seen and others look good," she explained before adding the hard work that actually goes into making a kissing scene look good for viewers.

"You can't kiss too hard because then your face sort of spreads across the other person and it looks terrible. You find that you're thinking more about whether or not you're squashing him than kissing him," she shared.

Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

Notting Hill, 1999. Image: Universal Pictures.

Actors Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts are perhaps not the best of friends - and it was clear when Grant made a comment about what it was like to kiss his co-star for Notting Hill.

"I've probably made too many jokes about the size of her mouth," he told Andy Cohen, referring to his difficulties in kissing her lips because his were much smaller. "She might hate me by now."

This article was published on December 5, 2022 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty.

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