‘It was a bit dicey to do — people said it could be a career killer and what are the girls going to think of you? A couple of people said, “Do you really want to do it, Michael? People will think you’re gay.” I said, “No, they won’t. They know I’m an actor.” I loved doing that.’
Caine added that the two were so flustered over performing the kiss they couldn’t remember their lines:
‘Many of my friends were gay, so I’d studied them and their movements and speech, so I basically knew what I was doing. And the parts were so very good. I’d never kissed a man on the lips before. Neither of us had ever kissed another man before, so we drank a couple of brandies. Then when it came time for the dialogue, we couldn’t remember it. So the kiss was a bit of a disaster.’
– Veteran actor Michael Caine, speaking to Rolling Stone about his co-starring role with Christopher Reeve in Deathtrap, the 1982 thriller about a playwright and his student.
Watch the iconic clip after the jump!
Great movie based on a classic stage play! Caine and Reeve might have been slightly drunk but they definitely made me believe there was chemistry between them. And Dyan Cannon was spot on as Myra Bruhl. As dated as this film is, it’s worth a watch. I’ve seen a number of stage productions of this and the movie beats them hands down.
Casey Donovan claimed that he had a brief affair with Reeve during the 1970’s. It lasted two months and Reeve ended it when he learned Donovan was a porn star. I doubt that it was the first time Reeve had kissed another man.
IT’S NOT A GAY KISS, IF THEY AREN’T GAY.
IT’S JUST A MAN KISSING A MAN FOR A MOVIE
Glen–you’re a wise fellow!
I remember seeing “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” (still one of my very favorite movies) in Toledo, Ohio, and when Peter Finch and Murray Head first kissed it was supposed to be quite a surprise, but the gasp that the audience gave made my EARS POP!
he had to study his gay friends to see how they kissed?
I was unaware that gay kissing and straight kissing were so different
it is nice kiss because of feeling love between the 2 gays
When it happened people gasped out loud in the theatre. A real shocker to see main stream stars kissing like that.
LOL – Christopher Reeves never kissed a man before?? riiiiiiiight.