Part of the fun of watching a movie is seeing how reality and fiction blur together. The sets and props may be fake, but the chemistry between your favorite actors is very real.
That’s especially true when it comes to onscreen romances. Some kisses sizzle and some fizzle, and it all comes down to how good the star in question is when it comes to locking lips.
Who, then, are the best kissers in Hollywood? The answers may shock you! Here are the real stories behind your favorite “happily ever after” moments on film.
Adam Sandler
Adam Sandler’s film career famously runs hot and cold. Sometimes, he gives us unwatchable dreck like The Ridiculous 6. Other times, he gives the performance of a lifetime in hit movies like Uncut Gems.
However, one thing that only runs hot is Sandler’s kissing skills. In fact, his Just Go With It co-star Brooklyn Decker revealed she was “taken aback by how good of a kisser he was.”
“He’s a great kisser,” she said on Watch What Happens Live. “And he’s also a gentleman, which I think makes the whole experience just nice.”
To top it off, Decker said she’s heard the same thing from many of Sandler’s female co-stars. Maybe this is the real reason why Sandler stars in so many romantic comedies!
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Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf has had an interesting career. He went from child TV star to international fame with the Transformers movies. And somewhere along the way, he became most famous of all for his infamous “Just Do It” motivation video.
But although LaBeouf has earned a reputation as an eccentric actor, there’s nothing off-putting about his kissing technique. And none other than his stunning Transformers co-star Megan Fox can vouch for this.
When asked by E! News who was her favorite onscreen kiss, Fox replied “Shia LaBeouf” without missing a beat.
That is high praise indeed, and it may help explain her and LaBeouf’s natural chemistry amid these otherwise terrible movies.
Kirsten Dunst
In 2002’s Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst played Mary Jane Watson, the romantic interest of Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker. The most memorable scene in the film? Dunst’s rain-soaked upside down kiss with Spider-Man. The scene was downright hot, and it rightfully earned an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.
It turns out that wasn’t movie magic: Kirsten Dunst is just that good.
According to Simon Pegg, Dunst’s How to Lose Friends & Alienate People co-star, her smooching skills are downright distracting. So much so that Pegg told Digital Spy, “I had to remind myself I’m married.”
It sounds like the wisdom of Mary Jane extends to any co-star that gets to kiss Dunst: “Face it, tiger. You just hit the jackpot!”
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Zendaya
One of the weirder coincidences in the universe is that actresses who portray MJ in a Spider-Man movie tend to be great kissers. First, there was Kirsten Dunst. And now, there is Zendaya!
Anyone who has seen Zendaya’s famous kiss with Hunter Schafer in Euphoria’s first season already knew she was a great kisser. But this was confirmed by her The Greatest Showman co-star Zac Efron.
In an interview with Filmweb, he admitted that Zendaya was the best onscreen kiss he ever had. “This might be my favorite kiss,” he said.
When you think about the sheer number of onscreen kisses Efron has been a part of, this is high praise indeed!
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp has stirred a number of controversies over the years. But while he always seems to make lips wag, his own lips are the envy of Hollywood.
Back in 2009, his Public Enemies co-star Marion Cotillard told Cosmopolitan about his skill at locking lips.
“Johnny Depp is a very, very nice guy,” she said. “I was very nervous but he was very protective of me and if you really want to know, he is a very, very good kisser.”
To top it off, Depp’s reputation as a good kisser preceded him when Pirates of the Caribbean was filming. This is why Keira Knightley begged film director Gore Verbinski to add a scene where she kissed Depp’s notorious pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, even though her onscreen romance was meant to be with Orlando Bloom.
How was the kiss, though? According to Cosmopolitan, Knightley said, “I am glad I got it. It was good. Really good.”
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Leonardo DiCaprio
In many ways, Leonardo DiCaprio owes his career to his lips. After all, he became world-famous due to star-turning roles in romantic movies like Romeo + Juliet and Titanic.
But is he really a good kisser, or is this all just Hollywood magic?
It turns out those kissing skills are entirely real. In an interview with E!, DiCaprio’s Django Unchained co-star Nichole Galicia said that kissing Leo was, in fact, “everything you would imagine it to be. It was perfect.”
His The Wolf of Wall Street co-star Margot Robbie agrees. Speaking to People Magazine about the filming experience, Robbie said, “All of my girlfriends interrogated me and asked, ‘Is he an amazing kisser?’ I’d sit them down and say, ‘All I know is his screen kissing is great.'”
When it comes to kissing, it looks like Leo is still “the king of the world.”
Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise’s real life romances are often topsy-turvy. For example, the fallout from his failed marriages with Katie Holmes and Nicole Kidman is the stuff of legend. But when it comes to onscreen romances, Cruise’s kissing skills are nearly unparalleled.
Even though Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow only appeared together in a cameo in Austin Powers in Goldmember, Cruise’s kissing skills left an impression on Paltrow. “He was an amazing kisser!” she told People.
Later, his Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol co-star Paula Patton agreed. On Live with Kelly and Ryan, she called their onscreen kiss “great.”
“I will tell you that the kiss from Tom Cruise was a surprise,” she elaborated. “He had amazing breath. It wasn’t minty. It was just perfect.”
Perfect hair and perfect breath? Someone tell Tom Cruise that’s just downright unfair!
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