So, kissing. It's a funny old thing isn't it?
Last week I was back working in Bedford as part of StageWrite 2014, the same new writing showcase week that I was involved in last year.
In one of the plays that I was in, two of my fellow actors were playing boyfriend and girlfriend, and the script called for a 'passionate kiss'. I won't name names, but for one of the actors, it was their first stage kiss. We had a long amusing conversation talking about the art of kissing acting, brought up by the question 'We don't have to use tongues do we?!?'
The consensus was no, of course not, you should just do what you're comfortable with, and there's no point in using tongues as the audience can't see anyway!
It got me thinking back to previous productions where I have had to kiss people. As of this week, my total has raised to four.
The first time I had to use my stage kissing skills was in a production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' in which I was playing Beatrice. Unfortunately the gentleman who was playing Benedick and I had had a very large falling out and pretty much detested each other. Quite a good thing for most of the play, but when the kissing scene occurred, it required all of my acting talents to make it look like I had at least a little bit of affection for the bloke.
The first time we kissed, it was slightly uncomfortable, but I quickly realised that I'd have to be kissing him every day for three months so I just had to get on with it and in the end it was fine. Around half way through the tour, we had an even bigger falling out, and the play started to suffer in the romantic scene. No matter what happens between myself and a fellow actor, if I'm being employed by someone to do a job, I'm going to do it the way in which I'm directed. Him, not so much.
He began a tradition of just cupping my face in his hands and pretending to kiss me, when it was blindingly obvious that his head was quite a distance away from mine, and even if both our tongues were fully extended, we still wouldn't have contact!
I didn't want to bring the issue up with him for fear of creating another argument and causing a large rift in the cast, but as the show was being performed in schools, the kids we were performing to liked to speak their minds, and after one show in which a child shouted out, "Well that was sh*t, he didn't even kiss her!!", full lip contact resumed the very next day.
My next stage kiss happened at StageWrite 2013, in a play which called for another passionate kiss, in which my character took her boyfriend by surprise. I was quite shocked when it came to rehearsals, the guy I had to kiss asked me if I was comfortable with it, and I could tell that he was thinking about it more than I was. It had never occurred to me that someone else might be more nervous/uncomfortable with it than I would be. I went in for a snog but he pulled away quite quickly(!) and that's how it stayed. It was fine, and I laughed it off and added it to my tally!
Kiss number three came in another production of 'Much Ado About Nothing' last year. This time I was playing Hero. Hero doesn't say very much at all, and when introduced to Claudio, the man who she is due to marry, she still doesn't even talk to him, they don't speak until their wedding day. We were still in scenes together, but ended up spending the majority of our time together standing at the back of the stage kissing, while everyone else was doing the hard work. What a job ;)
This was the first time that I had to do a stage kiss while I had a boyfriend in real life. My Claudio kept joking around, saying he was going to really ramp up the kissing scenes when he came to watch, and I admit I was slightly nervous about it but it turned out to be fine, he understood it was my job.
It's really strange, I went on a date recently, and was really nervous about the idea of kissing at the end of it. What sort of kiss do you go for on a first date? If you do at all. I didn't kiss him in the end as he had a cold and he told me he didn't want me to catch it. Don't jump to conclusions, we're still in contact, he wasn't just blowing me off!
But my point is, it's much more nervewracking kissing someone for the first time in real life than it is on an acting job.
I turned up to the film I was shooting this week and met the guy who would be playing my husband. Thankfully he was absolutely lovely in every way and I felt completely at ease with him, unlike some actors that I've worked with(!)
We were playing a married couple so obviously our job was to make our relationship look convincing. We didn't shoot our kissing scene until day 2, so we had a bit of time to get comfortable with each other. All of day 1 was shot outside in the freezing cold, so between takes we were huddled together and cuddling to keep warm which started our bonding process! :)
When day 2 rolled around, it didn't seem awkward at all. Obviously it's not professional to make a fuss about it, it was written in the script and that was what was required. But I still can't get over how 'easy' it was. It's just a weird thing to do, it got me thinking at what a bizarre career I have. In any other career, no-one would be asked to kiss another person, people would kick up a proper fuss! I must admit I had to supress a giggle when I felt a tongue make a dart for my mouth, especially after last weeks conversations, and I guess that's what sparked this post, and set my mind wandering on a Sunday afternoon.
Anyway, here's a sneak preview of said film, 'Alice and Jack', from behind the scenes (a couple courtesy of Scott). I can't wait to see the final cut!
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