The famous upside-down kiss between Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man may go down as one of the most iconic moments in pop culture history, but the filming of that legendary smooch was anything but for the Hollywood actors.
In an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show (via The Independent), Mary Jane Watson actor Kirsten Dunst revealed that her silver screen kiss with Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire was “miserable” to shoot for both of them.
In the film, Spider-Man rescues MJ from a bunch of thugs in an alley. Afterward, the pair kiss passionately while Spider-Man hangs upside down. Although the film’s kiss proved to be a hit with fans around the world, doing it in the pouring rain wasn’t a fond experience for Dunst.
“I remember [the film’s director] Sam Raimi giving me a book of famous kisses to be inspired but also he really wanted to make it special even though it was kind of miserable actually doing it,” Dunst said. “It was pouring with rain, freezing, Tobey couldn’t breathe so it was almost like I was resuscitating him.”
Torrential downpour aside, Dunst has expressed her desire to reprise her role as MJ if given the opportunity like her co-star Maguire was in Spider-Man: No Way Home. As of the time of publication, it’s been 17 years since Dunst played MJ.
“I would do it. Why not? That would be fun. I would never say no to something like that,” Dunst told Variety in a 2021 interview. “I’d be old MJ at this point with little Spidey babies.”
While we may have to wait some time for to see Dunst’s MJ and her Spidey babies, you can check out The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story right now, which is a mini-sequel set between Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
About Author
