Emma Watson on Why Her Kiss With Daniel Radcliffe Was so Aggressive
Though there are a number of kisses throughout the eight Harry Potter films, there are a few that stand out. One, in particular, that Potterheads consistently reference is between Harry and Hermoine. Though the kiss doesn’t occur in reality but rather is a manifestation of a Horcrux, it’s still pretty memorable. Perhaps that is because of how Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson approached it.
The kiss that Radcliffe and Watson (who portrayed Harry Potter and Hermoine Granger) shared was pretty aggressive. And it seems that Watson is the one who took the lead on the moment creatively. Radcliffe has been candid about the fact that he initially had a different understanding of what the kiss should be. However, the Brown University alum seemed to have other ideas about how the kiss should play out.
Daniel Radcliffe wasn’t expecting his kiss with Emma Watson to be so fierce
In an interview with ITV’s Daybreak Morning Show (via People), Radcliffe reflected on the kiss he shared with Watson in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. “I always thought it was going to be this soft sensual sort of moment, and suddenly there was this vigorous kissing happening to me,” Radcliffe recalled. “She is a bit of an animal. But then, I’m not complaining. There are tens of thousands of men that would cut off limbs to be in that position.”
Watson explains why she made the kiss so intense
Turns out Watson had a very particular reason for being so aggressive with the kiss. Because she grew up with Radcliffe, she thought of him as a brother. Therefore, the idea of kissing him was extremely uncomfortable for her. To combat this, she decided to tackle the kiss unabashedly. In an interview with JoBlo, she got candid about this decision.
“I guess I was just so worried about it coming across as awkward as I felt it was inside that I just wanted to make it as real as I could?” The Bling Ring actor explained. “So I guess I just went for it?” Another thing that made it particularly awkward was that both Radcliffe and Watson were topless for the kiss. Fortunately, the actors were able to use humor to break the tension of the awkward moment.
How the ‘Harry Potter’ stars got over the awkwardness of the scene
“Oh, it was the weirdest thing ever, and they only told us about the silver body paint the day before,” Watson shared about the kiss. “They were like, ‘Oh, and P.S., we hope you don’t mind but we’d like you both to be topless and covered in silver paint.’ I was like, ‘Ookay,’ if it wasn’t weird enough before. So yeah, it was bizarre. Luckily, Dan is very funny and talkative and we could just have a laugh about it.”
