Keira Knightley has shared her on-screen kissing etiquette, admitting she will eat "something disgusting" to give herself bad breath if she has to kiss a co-star she "hates". The 40-year-old actress, known for her role in Pirates of the Caribbean, made the comments during an appearance on the Dish by Waitrose podcast.
She explained that normally she ensures she smells "minty fresh" for romantic scenes, but joked that if she dislikes someone, she would consume "as much garlic as possible". "No, that's unspoken basic human [etiquette] ... like you're not having garlic for lunch, you know, once again unless you really hate them in which case as much garlic as possible, obviously that's fair enough," she said.
Knightley stars in the new Waitrose Christmas advert alongside comedian Joe Wilkinson, and she confirmed that both had fresh breath for their kissing scene. "Tongue? No tongue. I mean, there was no tongue! I mean the rule is no tongue. Yeah, that is the rule. Waitrose Xmas no tongue. No tongue. Fine ..." she said.
She also revealed the challenge of kissing Wilkinson due to his facial hair. "He's got such a large beard that I couldn't get close to his mouth ... I don't think I got beyond the beard. It is a thick beard. An amazing beard," she said. When asked if Wilkinson was nervous, she noted that while the kiss was "weird", he seemed more concerned about the dancing, but ultimately "really went for it and was great".
The advert spoofs Knightley's 2003 film Love Actually, with a romance between Wilkinson's character Phil and Knightley, who appears as herself. It ends with Phil presenting a pie at her front door, and Knightley saying: "Please say you don't have cur cards" — a reference to a famous scene from the original movie.
