Drew Barrymore’s The Drew Barrymore Show aired a lovely Never Been Kissed cast reunion on Tuesday. David Arquette, Molly Shannon, and Michael Vartan joined Barrymore on her program to talk about the classic 1999 rom-com, and Vartan ended up divulging a funny reminiscence from their iconic kissing scene.
And when Barrymore’s on-screen love interest Vartan, who portrays Josie’s instructor, admitted he had a real-life infatuation on the actress, fans uncovered a juicy truth about the production.
The two tenderly kiss in the middle of a baseball field in front of the whole high school in the film’s concluding scene. Vartan and Barrymore were obviously moved as they hugged one other 22 years after the movie’s debut.
Vartan and Barrymore both teared up as they added, “I gotta say I haven’t seen that clip in years and standing there I got emotional.”
“It’s a pretty amazing thing to be a part of and this reunion is just wonderful,” he added. “This movie has been a huge part of my life, every time I’m stopped it’s always Never Been Kissed.”
Never Been Kissed
Michael Vartan and Drew Barrymore
Michael admitted he felt a touch hot under the collar during the smooching moment when asked if he had any specific recollections.
“Yeah, there’s a story about the famous scene that very few people know about and I’m not sure I should…” he added, adding, “You do not know about it.”
‘So, I get up to the mound, we embrace and we start kissing, and you really kissed me. I mean, you really kissed me. I was not ready for it in the least and I’m a man, I was a very young man back then, and I had uh, feelings.’
“The feelings were, they just happened, and I very quickly realized I was in a very bad spot because I was wearing very loose sort of like slacks and I thought, ‘This is going to be a disaster when they cut, I must preemptively end this,’” he explained. “So what I did, in a panic, I just yelled cut, and bent over and said, ‘Oh guys, sorry, my back, I put my back out playing ball.’”
“I went off into my corner and I was thinking horrible thoughts like you know ‘dead puppies, dead puppies, dead father, dead father’ and so finally I was able to compose myself and luckily the subsequent scenes went on without a hitch but that was — you were a very good kisser,” he said.
Barrymore said that she “went for it” during the kiss since Vartan wasn’t married at the time and she didn’t think she’d upset anybody. When he placed his hands on her face during the makeout shesh, she commended him for achieving the “ultimate in romance with a kiss,”
Fans of Josie from Never Before Kissed can expect more of her throughout season two of Barrymore’s talk show, where she’ll return for red carpet interviews and other segments.
Drew told Entertainment Tonight, “Stepping back into Josie Grossie’s shoes is so easy. I don’t think I have ever not been in her shoes. I loved this character so much. She was so personal for me. This whole story for me was not to do another rom-com, it was to embody a human being that represents us all. How and when do we become OK with ourselves? That is what Never Been Kissed is all about.”
