Jen Lilley has kissed a lot of Hallmark co-stars over the years. In a recent podcast appearance, the star of “A Royal Setting” reflected on which hunky co-star she thought was the best kisser. In addition, she relayed a story about the experience that she would probably consider the worst.
Jen Lilley Had a Tough Time Picking a Favorite Kisser
Lilley joined the “Hallmark Mysteries & More” podcast for its March 23 episode. During the podcast, the star of “A Royal Setting” was asked what turned out a somewhat difficult question. Lilley was asked which Hallmark co-star she’s worked with was the best kisser.
She paused for a moment, thinking about how to answer.
Then, Lilley responded, “Ryan Paevey knows how to kiss.”
Without missing a beat, though, she added, “They all do. Kevin McGarry, they’re all pretty great.”
Lilley starred with Paevey in two Hallmark movies during the years they were both actively doing projects with the network. The two co-starred in the 2017 film “Harvest Love,” as well as the 2021 movie “A Little Daytime Drama.”
In 2019, Lilley and McGarry starred in Hallmark’s “Winter Love Story.”
An Awkward Filming Scenario With Trevor Donovan Did Not Make the ‘Best Kiss’ List
Lilley also reflected on a terribly awkward experience related to filming a kiss. The star of “A Royal Setting” chose not to reveal the identity of the worst kisser.
When it came to the awkward kiss story, Lilley emphasized that the actor involved had nothing to do with it being awkward. “It wasn’t his fault,” she teased.
The kiss happened while she was filming “USS Christmas” with Trevor Donovan. Hallmark filmed it in 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lilley explained, “We were the first Hallmark movie back from COVID. We were one of the first movies in the industry back from COVID.” As a result, they were essentially “guinea pigs.”
In those early days of the pandemic, production struggled to determine how to film while keeping everybody healthy and safe. Lilley explained that production was “very, very paranoid about the fact that we had to kiss.”
When it came time to film the kiss, the directors didn’t explain to Lilley and Donovan what shot they planned. What they told the two to do was “Just come together and don’t move. Hold still. Don’t move ‘til we call cut.”
Donovan and Lilley did as they were told, which meant they came together in essentially a fake kiss and didn’t move. The problem was, nobody yelled “cut.”
So the pair just stayed in that awkward position, “Unnatural, not moving. And it was like 20 seconds.”
While still trying to hold that position and not movie, Lilley couldn’t help but start laughing. She recalled it was because, “I’m like, this is so uncomfortable because you’re not kissing. You’re just, like, held captive.”
What Lilley and Donovan later learned was that the plan was to pan over to the two looking like they were kissing, then quickly pan away. All the two had to do was hold that position for a few seconds, at most. However, nobody remembered to give that signal they were done.
As result, Lilley said, that particular kiss was the “most uncomfortable 20 seconds of my life. For both of us.”
