iStock/doble-d(LOS ANGELES) — A kiss can’t be just a kiss during the COVID-19 pandemic — such is the reality movie and TV producers are facing in shooting smooching scenes.
No soap opera would be complete without steamy scenes, but having to abide by coronavirus protocols to keep their cast safe led CBS’ The Bold and the Beautiful to think out of the box — literally, in some cases.
In some cases: the show has turned to what producers told Inside Edition were “mannequins” — but one shown standing in for a patient in a hospital bed looked more like a realistic-looking silicone-skinned sex doll.
B&B‘s producers have also hired living stunt smoochers: the real-life spouses of the show’s stars. Recently, Denise Richards’ husband Aaron acted as a designated kisser for one scene with her. And when the script called for Lawrence Saint-Victor to kiss his co-star Kiara Barnes, his wife Shay acted as his “intimacy double.” She donned a wig and was shot from the back of her head to sell the illusion.
“The kiss was easy,” Saint-Victor joked to the entertainment news program. “Everything before the kiss was difficult.”
Meanwhile, Lifetime has come up with a transparent solution to the kissing question: Plexiglas.
For a key kiss between stars Ali Stroker and Daniel di Tomasso in the upcoming holiday film Christmas Ever After, Lifetime producers showed The Wrap that a piece of the plastic was wedged between the couple while they snogged, insisting it won’t be visible to audiences when the movie debuts December 6.
By Stephen Iervolino
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