Jennifer Aniston’s no stranger to kissing co-stars. She’s done it many times throughout her career, locking lips with her friend and co-star Adam Sandler three times alone. In what just might be one of her most memorable on-screen smooches, she kissed then-teenager Will Poulter in a scene from 2013’s We’re the Millers. How Aniston felt about kissing her young co-star. Plus, why Poulter later admitted to being “very sorry” about the whole thing.
Aniston taught her movie son how to kiss in ‘We’re the Millers’
So how did Poulter’s character, Kenny, find himself kissing his fake mom in We’re the Millers? It all started with his pretend sister, Casey, played by Emma Roberts, and a conversation about kissing.
In their “family” RV, while Rose (Aniston) and her “husband” David (Jason Sudeikis) were elsewhere, Kenny admitted to never having kissed a girl. Soon, the two were locking lips, with Casey giving Kenny pointers.
When their “parents” learned what was going on — teaching “how to kiss out of pity” — Rose gave Kenny a kissing lesson of her own.
Jennifer Aniston researched whether or not kissing teenage Will was legal before filming
Discussing the We’re the Millers kissing scene on a 2013 talk show appearance, Aniston shared with Conan O’Brien what she did before filming. Not pop a breath mint or have a conversation with her co-stars.
Although those two things may have happened, the Morning Show star revealed she researched what it would mean legally. “It was just a kiss. That’s not illegal,” Aniston said before saying she “looked way into it,” (via UsWeekly).
Apparently, Aniston felt comfortable enough with the kissing scene because, per director Rawson Thurber, it was her idea for Kenny (Poulter) to kiss Casey (Roberts) and Rose (Aniston).
“I think it was Jen who thought it would be funny if Rose joined in, which made all the difference in the sequence,” Thurber told Collider in 2013.
Will later revealed Aniston had been ‘very supportive’ during their ‘very awkward’ kissing scene
Through the years, Poulter’s discussed kissing Aniston — and Roberts — in We’re the Millers. While promoting the comedy in 2013, the actor, who most recently appeared in The Bear Season 3, opened up about what it had been like to film the kiss.
“It was kind of a bizarre scene to film, we kind of just laughed our way through it,” he told Collider. “It was a very awkward day for all involved,” he added, providing a description Aniston took one step further, calling it “extremely awkward.”
When asked by Roberts if the scene was “that bad,” Poulter replied: “No. Obviously, it’s like boohoo, tiny violin, because obviously, it was the greatest experience of that young boy’s life, which he will remember forever.”
In 2022, Poulter reflected on the kissing scene once more, telling The Independent he felt “very sorry ” for his Roberts and Aniston before praising the latter for being there for him.
“She was very supportive and took care of me and was aware that, being a 19-year-old kid in that scenario, I was very nervous,” Poulter said. “This was before intimacy coordinators, which I really would have appreciated.”
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