The actor revealed he got a physical reaction to Drew Barrymore kissing him during a cast reunion of 1999's 'Never Been Kissed.'
Drew Barrymore had a heartwarming Never Been Kissed cast reunion on The Drew Barrymore Show, airing Tuesday. Barrymore welcomed David Arquette, Molly Shannon and Michael Vartan to her show to reminisce about the beloved 1999 rom-com, and Vartan ended up spilling a hilarious memory from their famous kissing scene.
Never Been Kissed starred Barrymore as Josie, a newspaper reporter who enrolls in high school as part of research for a story. She ends up falling in love with her teacher, Mr. Coulson (Vartan). In the film's final scene, the two romantically kiss in the middle of a baseball field in front of the entire high school. Vartan and Barrymore were visibly emotional while giving one another a hug 22 years after the film's release.
"I've got to say I haven't seen that clip in years and standing there I got emotional," Vartan said. "This movie has been a huge part of my life. Every time I am stopped it's always, Never Been Kissed. That's a pretty amazing thing to be a part of and this reunion is just wonderful."
When 46-year-old Barrymore asked the 52-year-old Alias star if he had any specific memories of filming, he talked about their romantic kissing scene and admitted he got a physical reaction that had him panicking.
"Yeah, there’s a story about the famous scene that very few people know about and I’m not sure I should ...," he said, noting that not even Barrymore knew about his situation at the time. "So, I get up to the mound, we embrace and we start kissing, and you really kissed me. I mean, you really kissed me. I was not ready for it in the least and I'm a man, I was a very young man back then, and I had uh, feelings."
"The feelings were, they just happened, and I very quickly realized I was in a very bad spot because I was wearing very loose sort of like slacks and I thought, 'This is going to be a disaster when they cut, I must preemptively end this,'" he continued. "So what I did, in a panic, I just yelled cut, and bent over and said, 'Oh guys, sorry, my back, I put my back out playing ball.'… Anyway, I went off into my corner and ... finally I was able to compose myself, and luckily the subsequent scenes went on without a hitch. You are a very good kisser."
Barrymore thanked him for the compliment.
"Well thank you and, you know, you weren't married at the time, so yeah, I went for it because you were single and I felt like I wasn't going to offend anybody," she said.
ET recently spoke to Barrymore about season 2 of The Drew Barrymore Show and she said that in addition the Never Been Kissed cast reunion, she plans to return to her role of reporter Josie Grossie by sending her to movie junkets to interview people.
"Stepping back into Josie Grossie's shoes is so easy," she said. "I don't think I have ever not been in her shoes. I loved this character so much. She was so personal for me. This whole story for me was not to do another rom-com, it was to embody a human being that represents us all. How and when do we become OK with ourselves? That is what Never Been Kissed is all about."
ET was on the set of Never Been Kissed with a then 23-year-old Barrymore and Vartan, who was 29 years old at the time. Vartan told ET that Barrymore fought to cast him in the film. Watch the video below for more.
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