Kirsten Dunst Claims Tobey Maguire “Couldn’t Breathe” While Shooting Their Upside Down Kiss In ‘Spider-Man’: “It Was Almost Like I Was Resuscitating Him”

Over two decades after the release of Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst is still dishing on one of Mary Jane Watson and Peter Parker’s most memorable scenes.

Dunst reflected on filming her and Tobey Maguire‘s upside-down kiss, including the guidance she received from director Sam Raimi, while stopping by The Jonathan Ross Show, per The Independent.

“I remember Sam Raimi giving me a book of famous kisses to be inspired but also he really wanted to make it special even though it was kind of miserable actually doing it,” she shared.

In the scene, Maguire’s Peter Parker (as Spider-Man) has just saved Dunst’s Mary Jane, and is hanging upside-down from the side of a building. Through the pouring rain, Mary Jane lifts up part of Peter’s mask and plants a smooch on him.

Dunst noted that it wasn’t particularly enjoyable for her scene partner, either, teasing, “It was pouring with rain, freezing, Tobey couldn’t breathe so it was almost like I was resuscitating him.”

Maguire has echoed these sentiments in past interviews, revealing that he was “practically suffocating” while shooting the scene, per The Hollywood Reporter.

“There was rain pouring up my nose, or down my nose if you consider the fact that I was upside down,” he said at the time. “And the mask is on, and then Kirsten pulls the mask up to here and it’s blocking my air passage there, so I couldn’t breathe. And then she’s kissing me, blocking the air passage there, so there’s nowhere else to breathe.”

Nonetheless, the kiss has cemented itself as a classic movie moment, even inspiring a recreated version in a Season 2 episode of The O.C. between Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer (Rachel Bilson). Brody previously shared his experience being in Maguire’s shoes (or rather, suit) with Inverse, revealing that he was “hanging upside down for a while.”

“I really liked the director, and we got on well. But one time he left me hanging up there a little longer than I thought, and I remember just feeling mad because I was powerless,” he recalled. “And as all the blood was rushing to my head, and he was like, ‘We’re going to go again.’ I was like, ‘Put me down.'”

Spider-Man is streaming on Disney+.