The kiss between Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire in ‘Spider-Man’ remains one of the most iconic on-screen moments but filming it was far from glamorous.
Fans of the Spider-Man franchise fondly remember the scene from the 2002 film, where Mary Jane Watson kisses Spider-Man (Peter Parker) while he hangs upside down. Although the sequence is considered one of the most memorable in the film’s history, Dunst herself did not have positive memories of shooting it.
She recalled that director Sam Raimi gave her a book about famous kisses for inspiration, as he wanted the moment to feel special, but in reality, the experience was rather unpleasant.
The conditions during filming were far from ideal. It was raining, the weather was cold, and Maguire struggled to breathe under the mask, leaving Dunst with the impression that she was reviving him. Despite the discomfort, she enjoyed the role and reprised it twice more, in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
This was not the only time Dunst spoke about the scene, aware of its fascination for fans. In a 2022 interview, she reflected on how little she expected it to become such a legendary moment. Water kept filling Maguire’s nose, the late-night filming made the atmosphere even more challenging, and the Spider-Man suit left him short of breath. Still, Raimi’s effort to highlight the romance made her realize how determined he was to create something special. Ultimately, she admitted that the result was a beautiful kiss and expressed pride in the fact that it became one of cinema’s most famous.
More than twenty years have passed since Dunst played Mary Jane Watson, yet the role remains one of her best-known. When asked if joining Spider-Man was a difficult decision, she explained that it was not. After an audition, Maguire, Raimi, and the producers traveled to Berlin to hold a screen test with her at a hotel. She sensed that Raimi was determined to make something distinctive, with an approach that felt closer to an independent film. His casting of Maguire — then known for Wonder Boys and The Cider House Rules—set the tone for bringing interesting actors into the Marvel universe.
