Garrett Hedlund on Sharing a 'Tender' Kiss With Gwyneth Paltrow

By The Boot Editors Posted Jan 5th 2011 12:21PM

Love scenes can be awkward for even the most experienced actors, but 'Country Strong' star Garrett Hedlund says he just jumped right in when it came to his kissing scene with co-star Gwyneth Paltrow.

Hedlund 's first meeting with Paltrow was only shortly before their romantic scene. He says, "Me and Gwyneth and [director] Shana Feste went to dinner for like an hour one of the days prior, and that was the first Gwyneth and I met each other."

Shortly thereafter, the 26-year-old actor was in a lip-lock with the Oscar-winning star. "[You] have to jump in and play these tender scenes, but you know what you're getting in for and you know what you want to do and what you want to show within your character."

Hedlund adds that he had to concentrate on his acting and ignore the fact that he was kissing one of the biggest stars in the world. "You kind of forget about the nerves of it and you focus on the scene and the characters. [Shana] wrote such a tender script filled with a lot of beauty, and you just want to try to show some of that."

Hedlund says he and Paltrow did no major prep work for the intimate scene. "We didn't even talk about it beforehand," he reveals. "The two of you show up, it's just really another day at work and being professional and mature about it. I'm more focused on the character and the work and not me."

In the film, Hedlund plays Beau Hutton, a talented singer/songwriter who befriends Paltrow's character, fallen country superstar Kelly Canter, in rehab. He's then tapped to go on Kelly's comeback tour as both an opening act and a watchdog for Kelly, making sure she stays sober.

'Country Strong' opens in theaters nationwide on Jan. 7.

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