Kirsten Dunst Said It Was “Terrifying” Kissing Josh Hartnett As “A Very Innocent 16-Year-Old” In “The Virgin Suicides”

In the film, which is an adaptation of Jeffrey Eugenides’s novel, Kirsten’s character engages in a brief romance with Trip Fontaine, played by Josh Hartnett.

©Paramount Classics/Courtesy Everett Collection

Kirsten has spoken at length about feeling incredibly worried when it came to shooting intimate scenes with Josh, who was 19 when the film was made. Last year, she told GQ that one particular scene — which saw her passionately making out with Josh in a car — made her “the most nervous,” adding that she was “mortified” when she realized she had accidentally bitten him during filming.

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Kirsten also told Variety last year that she was “very nervous” about a scene that featured Lux making out with multiple boys on the roof of her house — though she revealed that director Sofia was incredibly supportive.

“There’s a sequence where I’m making out with all these boys on a roof of the house. [Sofia] was like, ‘Don’t worry. You don’t have to make out with any of them. Just cover your hair and nestle into their neck. We’ll make it all work,’” Kirsten shared.

Fast forward to today, and Kirsten, 43, has opened up further about what it was like shooting these uncomfortable scenes while attending a special screening of The Virgin Suicides in LA in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary. Per People, the actor recalled feeling worried when she first read the script at age 16, telling the audience, “It was a lot of things that I was feeling that I hadn't expressed. They were very private.”

“I was worried about kissing Josh in the car and making out with boys on the roof,” she recalled. “Which Sof didn't make me do. She was like, ‘Just nuzzle into their shoulder and we'll shoot it abstractly.’ But I hadn't entered this side of my own personality, even though it was there.”

Speaking of shooting the car takeout scene, Kirsten admitted that she found it “terrifying” as an “innocent” 16-year-old. “That was a really memorable night. So I was waiting, [Sofia was] like, ‘Okay, you can go.’ And I had to jump on Josh in a car, which — I was a very innocent 16-year-old — was terrifying,” she said.

“I remember his wig fell off one time. I was so embarrassed,” she recalled, adding again that she was embarrassed when Josh told her after the shoot that she’d accidentally bitten him.

“It all was very real. The timing of it was real, which gave you that kind of anxiety watching it,” Kirsten added.

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