Which ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ Star Broke the Record For the ‘Longest Kiss in Cinema History’?
NCIS: New Orleans isn’t known for romance. Fans are lucky to see Scott Bakula’s Dwayne Pride and Chelsea Field’s Rita Devereaux take their real-life love affair to the NOLA streets. The CBS series solves crimes. That means the stars of the show have to get their romance on in other projects. One of the cast members holds the record for the “Longest Kiss in Cinema History.” Read on to find out who.
Many stars of ‘NCIS: New Orleans’ have been feature-length films
Scott Bakula is most known for playing Supervisory Agent Dwayne Pride on NCIS: New Orleans (as well as his sci-fi hit, Quantum Leap). However, the actor met his wife, Chelsea Field, working on the film, A Passion to Kill.
Bakula’s been in quite a few film projects including Major League: Back to the Minors, American Beauty, and The Informant, to name a few. He might get the most action on the NOLA spin-off. However, his film presence, and love interests within, are a bonus.
CCH Pounder plays Dr. Loretta Wade on NCIS: New Orleans, but her movie roles are kind of a big deal. Pounder’s world-renown voice carries into Avatar and all of its forthcoming sequels (through 2027) as Mo’at.
Rob Kerkovich plays the ever-witty Sebastian Lund on the series. In his spare time, he and his friends create and share their own genre mash-up video shorts. He also starred in the 2009 film, The Rebound, alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Daryl “Chill” Mitchell’s had a long career. However, it was cut in half by the accident that caused him to be paralyzed from the waist down. Catch “Chill” in the 1990 comedy, House Party, whereas after, he starred in Love & Debt, Inside Man, and 13 Moons.
Vanessa Ferlito, who plays Special Agent Tammy Gregorio, has quite a bit of cinema experience A couple to note are The 25th Hour and Undefeated on her list.
Who holds the world record for ‘Longest Kiss’?
Resident NCIS: New Orleans star, Necar Zadegan, knows a thing or two about kissing scenes. In the movie, Elena Undone, Zadegan broke the record for “Longest Kiss in Cinema History.” The smooch lasted 3:24 minutes.
The original record happened back in 1941 by a heterosexual couple. Elena Undone “follows a well-known lesbian writer who falls for the wife of a pastor,” according to the website, After Ellen.
Filmmaker, Nicole Conn, said she remembered what it felt like to fall in love. It inspired her to write this story.
“I discovered that the record for the longest kiss in cinema history — that was organic to a film — was held by an old black and white comedy starring of all people Jane Wyman and Regis Toomey in a film called You’re in the Army Now — which lasted three minutes and six seconds. The actor’s lips were glued together, so some people felt it shouldn’t count,” she said.
“Another filmmaker tried to break the record by running a kiss that was shot overhead in a helicopter over the end credits stating he was going to break the record held by You’re in the Army Now; again, not organic to the film.”
She added, “That’s what I wanted. To convey that moment, and I wanted the viewer to be fully inside that first earth-shattering kiss.”
What did it take to film the record-breaking kiss?
That kiss, however didn’t go as smoothly as it looks on film. Lighting mattered. That aside, the crew was short on time. And, the actresses (Zadegan and Traci Dinwiddie) only had three takes to nail it.
“They were thoroughly game to give it their best attempt — knowing we were trying to create film history, although I assured everyone,” she said.
“If the kiss didn’t feel right — or real — to the moment, we would cut it. The two jumped in with gusto, approaching it as they did every scene, with absolute professionalism and an intractable commitment to truth.”
By the time all was said and done, Conn said it was perfect.
“It is what every first true love kiss should be — endlessly breathtaking.” Regardless of the final product, that’s a long time, and incredibly brave, to kiss on-screen with no cutaway.
NCIS: New Orleans returns to CBS on Sunday, February 16.
