Helen Mirren Said Harrison Ford Sucks at Kissing: ‘He Does Try, but It Is Just Not There’
Kissing Harrison Ford might sound dreamy. But it wasn’t for Helen Mirren. After working with Ford on the ’80s flick The Mosquito Coast, she recalled he allegedly wasn’t a great kisser, even claiming other actors had shared similar complaints with her.
What is ‘The Mosquito Coast’?
Based on the same-name novel by Paul Theroux, The Mosquito Coast is a drama film that tells the story of Allie Fox (Ford), an American inventor with “nine patents, six pending” (via IMDb). Tired of life in the United States, Fox moves to Central America with his wife (Mirren) and kids in hopes of building a utopia. But his obsession eventually tears his family apart.
The Mosquito Coast released in 1986 to mixed reviews and bombed at the box office, earning just $14 million at the global box office (via Box Office Mojo). But modern reviews have been more positive, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a 76% rating.
What Helen Mirren said about working with Harrison Ford
Asked about her experience working with Ford in a 1997 interview on a BBC radio show, Mirren said he was “the nicest, sweetest guy you could want to meet.”
But when it came down to their love scenes, she admitted it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. “But he can’t kiss–he finds it impossible to kiss on screen,” she continued.
Then Mirren added: “He’s probably not very good off screen either.”
She also claimed other actors had told her similar things about Ford. “It’s not just me–other actresses agree. Whenever we get chatting off-screen and we get around to talking, we come to the same conclusion: ‘He couldn’t do it with me either!’ He does try, but it is just not there,” she concluded.
The reactions to Helen Mirren’s comments about kissing Harrison Ford
It doesn’t appear that Ford has ever directly commented on what Mirren said. But he once told Entertainment Weekly he has no regrets about the movie.
“It’s the only film I have done that hasn’t made its money back. I’m still glad I did it,” he said. “If there was a fault with the film, it was that it didn’t fully enough embrace the language of the book (by Paul Theroux). It may have more properly been a literary rather than a cinematic exercise. But I think it’s full of powerful emotions.”
He has also received compliments on his smooching skills from others, including dancer Darcey Bussell, who told The Daily Mail in 2017 that she allegedly kissed Ford in screentests for the 1995 romantic comedy Sabrina.
“It was the best kiss I’ve ever had. I still have a recording of the screen test we did together,” she said.
