Spider-Man's Famous Upside-Down Kiss Was 'Miserable' For Kirsten Dunst To Film
I know kids these days love the Tom Holland/Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Spider-Man, but for my money, the best big-screen take on the web-slinger remains the one from Sam Raimi's trilogy (yes, even the notorious third film, which is better than its reputation suggests). Say what you will about Raimi's films, but those movies have style. Raimi is a great director of movement, and he really knows how to pull off fun, vibrant, comic-book-infused action scenes. His "Spider-Man" movies are big, bold, sweeping action-adventures that still hold up to this day — especially "Spider-Man 2," which might just be the best superhero movie ever made.
One of the most memorable scenes from Raimi's first "Spider-Man" film involves a moment when Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is hanging upside down in a rainy alley and shares a kiss with the girl of his dreams, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). It's a romantic, cinematic moment and it became instantly famous after everyone saw it back in 2002. But according to Dunst, it was not fun to film.
In fact, Dunst describes the moment as "miserable."
Kind of miserable
While appearing on The Jonathan Ross Show (via Variety), Dunst recalled shooting the famous kiss scene. According to Dunst, director Sam Raimi gave her "a book of famous kisses to be inspired" by because he "really wanted to make it special." However, shooting the scene was anything but special. As Dunst recalled, "[I]t was kind of miserable actually doing it ... It was pouring with rain, freezing, Tobey couldn't breathe so it was almost like I was resuscitating him."
This news is hardly surprising. As swooningly romantic as the scene may look on screen, Maguire and Dunst were acting — they were there to do a job, and they did it well. But it's a testament to the performances, Raimi's direction, and the film's editing that the scene plays as well as it does under such inhospitable conditions. You don't get the scenes that Maguire or Dunst are miserable in the moment — you completely buy into their kiss. That's movie magic, folks.