Nicole Kidman Says Her Worst On-Screen Kiss Was With Alexander Skarsgård On ‘Big Little Lies’

Nicole Kidman has had some iconic on-screen kisses over the course of her career—from her ex-husband Tom Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut to Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge! and Harris Dickinson in Babygirl. But, unfortunately for her, they weren’t all pleasant.

The actress got real about her worst on-screen kiss while appearing on Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ podcast Las Culturistas. Kidman took part in the show’s “I Don’t Think So, Honey” segment, in which guests rant about a frustrating pet peeve. In her episode, Kidman declared: “I cannot stand bad breath.”

“I mean, this is a dealbreaker for me,” she continued. “You can be the most gorgeous, gorgeous guy, and you come at me with bad breath, and I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no.'” The actor added that if “I have to recoil, yikes! I’m out. You could not offer me enough money.”

Kidman minced no words in her interview, naming Alexander Skarsgård as the perpetrator. She said Skarsgård ate a falafel sandwich before filming one of their intimate scenes on Big Little Lies. “I’m like, ‘No, no, no, Alex. I’m meant to be kissing you and into you, put away the falafel now.”

She continued, adding, “Bad breath does not turn me on. As I said, it is very important to smell good, but more importantly—the mouth. The taste of the mouth and the smell of the mouth [are] very important to me.” She later joked that she’s sure her co-star “did not eat a falafel ever again.”

Kidman and Skarsgård worked together on both seasons of the Big Little Lies, playing married couple Celeste and Perry Wright. Kidman broke major news back in November 2023, confirming there will be a third season of the Emmy-winning series. She doubled down in June 2024, teasing, “We’re moving fast and furious. Liane [author Moriarty] is delivering the book. We’re in good shape.”