Kirsten Dunst explains why shooting Spider-Man kiss was ‘miserable’

Kirsten Dunst has spoken about her “miserable” experience filming the kissing scene in the 2002 film Spider-Man.

Dunst played Mary-Jane Watson, the love interest of Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) in the hit superhero blockbuster.

In the scene in question, Peter (aka Spider-Man) is seen dangling upside-down from a web while locking lips with MJ, who is standing upright.

During an appearance on this Saturday’s (30 March) episode of the ITV chat show The Jonathan Ross Show, Dunst recalled shooting the scene.

“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,” she revealed.

“It was pouring with rain, freezing, Tobey couldn’t breathe so it was almost like I was resuscitating him,” she quipped.

Dunst can next be seen in the action film Civil War, set in a near-future world where the US undergoes another civil war.

“You are really dropped in the centre of a civil war in America,” she told presenter Jonathan Ross. “It’s kind of a road trip through the backwoods of America from New York City to photograph and interview the president – he’s a fascist president, it’s his third term.”

Also starring in the film is Jesse Plemons, the star of Fargo and Friday Night Lights who is also married to Dunst.

Speaking about working alongside her husband, Dunst said: “Another actor was [originally] cast that couldn’t end up doing it because of scheduling. Even in reading the script, that scene was chilling and the way he plays it... what happens in that scene really sets the film off to the trajectory and really ignites the film. He’s very casual about it which makes it even more chilling.”

Dunst and Plemons met while filming the second season of the FX crime drama Fargo together in 2015. They began a relationship in 2016, and got married in 2022.

“We did Fargo Season two together and then that’s when we became creative soulmates in a way and fell very much in love creatively and then we got together a year later. I love working with him. He’s my favourite actor,” Dunst remarked.

The Jonathan Ross Show airs at 9.35pm on ITV1 and ITVX this Saturday.