Actors Who Refused To Do Kissing Scenes

It's hard to picture your favorite shows or romcoms without any onscreen lip-locking. According to The New York Times, smooching on the big screen for the world to see got its start early on when the movie industry began. In a 25-second short film by none other than Thomas Edison in 1896, audiences witnessed the very first onscreen kiss. It was awkward, as most first kisses are, but started a trend that's still prevalent today. Thankfully, Hollywood these days has made sure the scenes aren't uncomfortable to watch. 

Kissing scenes may very well be commonplace in the 21st century, but that doesn't mean actors feel all that comfortable doing them. Some stars, like Selena Gomez and Dakota Fanning, experienced their first ever kisses while on camera. As you can imagine, these young pros were nervous, but remained committed to their craft — even if that craft meant swapping spit. Sometimes, though, actors have flat-out refused to do a kissing scene with a costar. Here are some surprising celebs who just wouldn't purse those lips.

If you saw the 1993 film Poetic Justice, you know that Janet Jackson and her costar Q-Tip share a kissing scene. Although the scene had to be shot around 11 times, Q-Tip told Revolt it was enjoyable to film. Tupac Shakur was also cast to play opposite Jackson as her character's love interest. Although the two were required to share a kissing scene, Jackson made it clear that she would not be kissing Shakur unless he got a blood test.

"I don't know what that decision was on her part to be like, 'He has to get a AIDS test,'" Q-Tip explained. "But she was definitely, 'Well, if I'm going to kiss with him, he definitely has to.'" Although Q-Tip revealed that the late hip-hop phenom was miffed by Jackson's ultimatum, it seems he did subject himself to a test as the make-out sesh made it into the film.

Although Neal McDonough has starred in notable films like Minority Report and Captain America: The First Avenger among others, you'll never, ever see him kiss a costar on screen. "Life is about honoring God and being the best human being you can be and giving praise to God in everything you do," the devout catholic actor revealed to Christian Examiner. While he says "killing people on screen" is "fake," he opined, "when you're in bed with another woman on screen — guess what? That's real. I don't like that kind of stuff."

As a husband and father of five, he says he doesn't want his kids to question his onscreen actions, at least when it comes to kissing and "[using] the Lord's name in vain" — both of which he is adamantly against. Violence, however, is another matter. McDonough revealed that there's really only two roles to choose from in Hollywood: the leading man who kisses girls or the bad guy who kills people. He admits he's chosen the latter, but hopes to see more faith-based films in the future. 

Although audiences fell in love with onscreen couple Martin and Gina in the '90s television series Martin, what was happening behind the scenes was a different matter altogether. Los Angeles Times reported that court documents filed by Tisha Campbell, the actress who played Gina, accused her onscreen husband, Martin Lawrence, of humiliating and abusing Campbell to "the point where she needed to be hospitalized due to the stress he caused her." 

Campbell alleged that Lawrence would also forcefully kiss her when they were not in rehearsal or filming. By the show's fifth season, she went to the writers petitioning them to cease writing any romantic bedroom scenes. After the writers continued to write the love scenes, and after another one of Martin's "hysterical outburst[s]", the actress informed the show's producers that she was done and not coming back. 

Lawrence and Campbell appear to have reconciled since and, in 2018, Campbell was even photographed giving Lawrence a kiss on the cheek.

Although Candace Cameron Bure hasn't refused to kiss her costars yet, it seems likely that she will secure a spot on the short list of celebs who've stopped doing kissing scenes. In 2017, the actress told Us Weekly that she doesn't like that her character is involved in a love triangle in Netflix's Fuller House. The star revealed, saying, "...I'm kind of over it in the sense that I don't like that I keep kissing two different men!"

Because Bure also stars in Hallmark movies, she said she has to work with — and kiss — "a new guy in each movie." The actresses continued, saying, "I'm getting more uncomfortable with it the older I'm getting. I'm like, 'I don't want to keep doing this!'" Bure's husband isn't a fan of the smooching aspect of her job either and has decided to stop watching her work altogether. And, given that Bure's brother Kirk Cameron has taken a stand against onscreen kissing, it isn't too hard to picture Bure doing the same.