The Most Uncomfortable First Kiss Scenes Ever Filmed
While everyone remembers their favorite onscreen first kiss (Sixteen Candles, anyone?) there are countless not-so-awesome kisses we wish we could erase from our brains forever.
Whether it's Louis C.K.'s character attempting to date rape his best friend on Louie, Michael Scott (Steve Carell) forcing an unwanted same-sex smooch on a colleague on The Office, or Billy (Jeremy Sisto) trying to tongue kiss his sister on Six Feet Under, some of these smooches are downright horrifying. Other times (think Joey and Rachel on Friends, or Harry and Hermione on Harry Potter), characters locked lips when they should have definitely stayed in the friend zone.
And other first kisses, like Lloyd and Mary's fantasy make-out sesh in Dumb and Dumber, were so outrageously over-the-top that they should have been funny... but came off more horrendous than hilarious. Check out some of the most awkward and uncomfortable first kisses to ever grace the screen.
Matt LeBlanc and Jennifer Aniston: Friends
When millions of people scream, "No!" at their TV screens in unison when an onscreen couple shares their first smooch, it's not a good sign.
Throughout most of the ten seasons of the hit '90s NBC sitcom Friends, Joey Tribbiani (Matt LeBlanc) and Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston) were platonic pals and barely seemed to notice each other in a romantic way. Then, for reasons no one may ever understand, producers decided that Joey should develop feelings for Rachael during season eight while she was actually pregnant with Ross' baby.
Joey's crush on Rachel became on ongoing plot point, until they finally locked lips in season nine. The problem with this whole scenario? Not only did the characters have zero chemistry, but, by season nine, fans had been waiting six long seasons for a potential Ross and Rachel reunion. When Ross was revealed to be Rachel's father's baby, fans were sure that the long-awaited reconciliation would finally happen. Instead, they got a lukewarm, nonsensical Joey and Rachel romance, and they were not happy about it.
Critics panned the pairing as well, with E! News musing, "Was putting Joey and Rachel together a terrible idea or a really terrible idea? It was too far into the series to throw these two together. They didn't make sense and their romantic scenes felt forced."
Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill: The Empire Strikes Back
The Luke and Leia kiss in The Empire Strikes Back falls squarely into the category of "awkward in retrospect." After all, there's nothing like falling for a hot dude and then learning he's your twin brother, after you've already kissed him, to make you feel totally weird. Adding to the discomfort, Leia (Carrie Fisher) kissed Luke (Mark Hamill) in front of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewy and C-3PO, so it's not like they can pretend it never happened.
But did Star Wars creator George Lucas plan the incestuous attraction from the beginning? Some say no. The Huffington Post speculated that Lucas had initially not planned to make Luke and Leia siblings. Writer Brian Cronin wrote in 2017, "I do not believe that Lucas intended Leia to be Luke's sister during The Empire Strikes Back," arguing that Luke's twin sister was initially supposed to be a totally different character. He theorized that Lucas revealed Luke and Leia as siblings in Return of the Jedi, in order to tie up that storyline.
Louis C.K. and Pamela Adlon: Louie
Years before Louis C.K. was accused of sexual misconduct by several women, a scene from his critically acclaimed FX show Louie made audiences squirm as his character seemed to attempt to rape a close friend.
In season four, his character Louie tries to hook up with pal Pamela (Pamela Adlon), who makes it clear that she's not interested. He physically stops her from leaving, dragging her across his apartment and trying to take her shirt off while she protests, "This would be rape if you weren't so stupid!" She shoves him away and runs for the door, where he blocks her path and tells her that he's going to kiss her. She says "Hurry up," and scrunches up her face in distaste as he kisses her.
Critics were both appalled and baffled by the scene, with Vanity Fair wondering, "What on earth is Louis C.K. trying to say about rape?" and Time magazine lamenting, "It feels terrible to watch."
But Adlon claimed that both she and C.K. thought the scene would be hilarious. She told Vulture in 2014, "When I read it I was dying laughing, because in the script ... he said, 'She's holding on to the walls and furniture like a cartoon cat.'"
She told Vulture that she's an advocate for women's rights, and explained, "The notion that we're being careless and putting some kind of dangerous message out is offensive to me. But I can't help what people feel."
Rachel Griffiths and Jeremy Sisto: Six Feet Under
HBO's acclaimed drama Six Feet Under opened every single episode with a death, so it wasn't easy to watch on a good day, but the show took the "ick factor" to another level when Brenda Chenowith's (Rachel Griffiths) troubled brother Billy (Jeremy Sisto) tried to seduce her.
Billy and Brenda always had an intensely co-dependent relationship, but things got worse when their father passed away and Brenda moved in with Billy. After being triggered by a childhood memory one night, Billy lost it and began ranting and raving, telling his sister, "We're so damaged, Bren. We can go about our lives and pretend everything's going to be okay, but it never will be, ever."
She comforts him and they hug, before Billy murmurs, "I love you so much, Bren," and kisses her neck before moving on to grab her face and kiss her lips. Brenda, understandably, freaks out and leaves. The scene is disturbing not only because of Billy's unwanted incestuous advances, but also because he always seemed to be teetering on the verge of complete insanity.
John Teti of The AV Club wrote of this episode, "I almost forgot how much Creepy Billy gives me the willies. Which means Creepy Billy has me right where he wants me."
Steve Carell and Oscar Nunez -- 'The Office'
Imagine the most awkward, uncomfortable and inappropriate workplace seminar ever and then multiply that by a million, and you've got the season three The Office episode, Gay Witch Hunt.
Bumbling boss Michael Scott, played to perfection by Steve Carell, attempts to educate his staff about LGBT rights, and, in the process, ends up accidentally outing office accountant Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez). After Oscar admits that he is in fact gay, Michael demands that Oscar hugs him, and then takes it a step farther and kisses Oscar on the lips.
Nunez said the kiss was all Carell's idea. He told the AV Club, "He wasn't supposed to kiss me, we were just supposed to hug, and he kept hugging me. And that particular take he came in really close, and I'm like, 'Where is he going with this?' Oh, dear, yes here we go. And then I'm just thinking, 'Oh God, nobody laugh so we can use it.' And they didn't, and it worked perfectly. It was a lot of fun."
Charlton Heston and Kim Hunter: Planet of the Apes
This kiss is awkward for pretty obvious reasons — interspecies hookups usually are. In the original 1968 Planet of the Apes, a grateful George Taylor (Charlton Heston) thanks ape Zira (Kim Hunter) for helping him escape. He tells her, "Doctor, I'd like to kiss you goodbye." Her reply? "Alright, but you're so damned ugly." Making things all the more absurd, since it was decades before the advent of CGI, Heston was literally kissing an actress in an ape suit.
That wasn't the last ape-man kiss in the franchise. Captain Leo Davidson (Mark Wahlberg) showered his affection on his ape love Ari (Helena Bonham Carter) in the 2001 Planet of the Apes remake. Wahlberg told Cinema.com, "It's Helena Bonham Carter under there, so it's actually a very pleasant experience. Makeup artist Rick Baker has just made her so cute. It's very easy."
Both Cinema.com and The Guardian reported that director Tim Burton had hoped for a sex scene between Leo and Ari, but studio execs balked. Now that would have taken things to a whole other level of weirdness!
Jim Carrey and Lauren Holly: Dumb and Dumber
Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Mary's (Lauren Holly) imaginary kiss in 1994's Dumb and Dumber might be the grossest smooch on this list. In a fantasy sequence, Lloyd bends Mary over in an intense open-mouth kiss, and it's hard to say what's more disgusting... the way that Lloyd seems to be tasting Mary's tonsils, or the gargling noises he makes while doing it.
But, despite it being one of the most repulsive movie kisses in all of eternity, it nabbed the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss in 1995. By the time they accepted the award, Holly and Carrey were an item in real life, and Holly told the crowd, "Just to let you know, Jim Carrey really does kiss like that. I've just recently gotten used to it."
Carrey replied, "I would like to thank my partner in life, Lauren Michael Holly, for allowing me to probe her epiglottis (a flap of cartilage in the throat) in front of millions."
The two later married but Holly filed for divorce after only nine months... maybe she wasn't joking about the way Carrey kisses?
Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1
While some Harry Potter fans complained when Hermione and Ron ended up together, they got a taste of what a Harry and Hermione pairing would be like in the penultimate movie... and it wasn't pretty.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1, Ron (Rupert Grint) is overcome by one of Voldemort's horcruxes, which flashes all of his fears in his face. He witnesses a ghostly pale Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and Hermione (Emma Watson) in a nude embrace, groping each other and frenetically making out. The pair have zero physical chemistry and the kiss is just icky. Ron's appalled face in the scene conveys what we all were thinking — "Ewwwwwwww!"
But beyond the onscreen weirdness, The Telegraph reported that Watson said the kiss was uncomfortable for different reasons. She told the newspaper, "I was half naked and covered in silver paint, so that was pretty awkward."
Watson revealed to MTV News that the partial nudity had come as a surprise to her. She said, "It was only the day before that they said, 'Oh, by the way, we hope it's all right, but we want you to be topless, and we're going to cover you in silver paint.'"
Andrew McCarthy and Molly Ringwald: Pretty in Pink
While the first kiss between rich boy Blane (Andrew McCarthy) and DIY darling Andie (Molly Ringwald) in '80s classic Pretty in Pink should have been a highlight of the film, it frankly just comes off as super weird.
Blane has just dropped off Andie from their first date, and lays his first kiss on her. But while the iconic and rather chaste kiss between Samantha (Ringwald) and Jake (Michael Schoeffling) in fellow brat pack comedy Sixteen Candles was sweet, this smooch is just a bit... much. Blane splays his fingers over Andie's face in a really strange and uncomfortable way, almost as if he's a blind man feeling her to see what she looks like. And then the kiss just keeps going and going... adding to the oddness.
Vanity Fair called out McCarthy's awkwardness in the film, wondering, "Why does Molly Ringwald's Andie pine so hard for Andrew McCarthy's Blane ... McCarthy offers little more than ever-widening eyes."
Elizabeth Banks and Steve Carrell: The 40-Year-Old Virgin'
Comedic master Steve Carrell gets another mention on the awkward kiss list... but unlike in The Office, his character was not the aggressor in this case. In The 40-Year-Old Virgin, his character, Andy, was seduced by sexually uninhibited bookstore clerk Beth (Elizabeth Banks), and their first kiss was one for the record books. An exuberant Beth pretty much mauls Andy in her bathroom, almost biting his lip off in the process.
Elizabeth Banks spoke to Esquire about her character, saying, "I knew that girl. She's a good-time girl who lives in the Valley — who works in the bookstore — and goes to community college on the side, and is really into funky stuff in the bedroom. Her entire outlook on life made perfect sense to me."
And she said that nothing she did in the film made her blush (not even the solo bathtub scene involving a detachable shower head), telling Esquire, "I am never embarrassed by something that makes people laugh."
Ryan and Shanna: The Virgin Diaries
Any list of awkward first kisses wouldn't be complete without including an endearingly inexperienced couple from the 2011 TLC reality special, The Virgin Diaries.
The pair, Ryan and Shanna, shared their very first kiss on their wedding day, at the altar in front of all their friends and family (and TV cameras). And Ryan got very into it, taking the term "sucking face" to a new height. This was no quick ceremonial peck — as family members appeared to be trying not to laugh, he rapidly open-mouth kissed his new bride enthusiastically.
The Today show said it "could be the oddest and most eager smooch ever captured on film," while Cosmopolitan called the kiss "a complete shambles" and promised, "It'll make you cringe like you've never cringed before." According to Daily Mail, the couple got some practicing in after the wedding, with Ryan saying of that first kiss, "I had never kissed a girl before I married Shanna and you know I wasn't really planning ahead, or thinking about what to do."
Shanna agreed, saying, "It was kinda hard for me because I hadn't really kissed anybody, so I didn't really know what I was doing. So when I went to first kiss him, I just went full force because I was, like, excited."