I learned how to kiss thanks to a culmination of TV shows and embarrassing Google searches, but not many of us can say we got tips from Meryl Streep. However, actress Allison Janney is among the few who have had that honor, and when she appeared The Graham Norton Show to talk about I, Tonya, she revealed the surprising advice Streep gave her for kissing on camera before the two shared a smooch of their own for The Hours.
"You got kissing tips from a great, Allison," host Graham Norton said.
"One of the greatest — Meryl Streep," Janney replied. "I had to kiss in a movie called The Hours and she was not happy with the way a certain scene was being lit and we had to kiss and she said 'I'm going to do you a favor. You're going to thank me for it later.'"
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In order to get the full effect, Norton allowed Janney to demonstrate the technique on himself. Apparently, it all comes down to the "nasal labial folds."
"I have these 'nasal labial folds,' they call them, here and they look better when they're pulled back so she came into kiss me and she went like this," Janney said, putting her hands on Norton's cheeks and pulling his skin back before planting one on him. "Watch the movie it's very funny to see that in it."
In fact, you can watch that scene right here.
Advice like this is important, because actors have had their fair share of on-screen kissing horror stories. Janney also recounted an actor who required them to put Neosporin on their lips, and Daniel Kaluuya, who was also on the couch, learned far too late that tongue was not necessary.
"I didn't know that...apparently it's bad etiquette to put your tongue in," he said. "I didn't know that. Someone told me...I was just doing it because I thought we were keeping it real. Someone said if you fancy them you put your tongue in. That's what someone told me and I was like 'Oh shit.'"
Next time, call Meryl Streep. I know I will.
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