Matt Damon Recalls Why Kissing Scarlett Johansson ‘Was Hell’ In This Movie

Matt Damon has no qualms about kissing and telling.

The movie star dished on one of his most hellish kissing scene experiences during a press appearance on LADbible with his “Oppenheimer” co-star Emily Blunt.

The two were discussing etiquette for intimate scenes, when Damon talked about a time he “had to kiss Scarlett Johansson” in the 2011 film “We Bought a Zoo.”

“Could you imagine how horrible that was for me?” Damon quipped, joking that the experience “was hell.”

Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon attend the "We Bought a Zoo" premiere on Dec. 12, 2011, in New York City.
Scarlett Johansson and Matt Damon attend the “We Bought a Zoo” premiere on Dec. 12, 2011, in New York City.

James Devaney via Getty Images

“What happened was, we did a shot before lunch, and it was like this nice little two-shot that ended in the kiss. And it was really good,” the “Bourne Identity” star said. “And we went to lunch, and she and I both thought it was over.”

“And she ate, like, an onion sandwich for lunch,” Damon continued. “And she came in and Cameron Crowe had set the camera up and it was a tight shot of the kiss, and she goes, ‘Oh shit! I literally just had an onion sandwich!’”

Blunt asked if Damon was still “slightly aroused” by kissing Johansson with her onion breath.

“I was making fun of her the entire time about her onion breath, which I didn’t even smell,” he said before laughing and adding, “’Cause her breath smells like roses.”

https://www.youtube.com/embed/l5ujKZGgP8o?rel=0&enablejsapi=1</div>","type":"video","meta":{"author":"LADbible TV","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4oVjJptcsvtgIMrdIUQYlQ","cache_age":86400,"description":"Oppenheimer stars Emily Blunt and Matt Damon argue over the internet’s biggest debates in Agree To Disagree for LADbible.nnShould you tell someone if they have bad breath? Is British food better than American food? Should you clap when your plane lands to thank the pilot? nnMatt and Emily argue it out whilst revealing how close they are as friends – even going on holiday together each year! We see Matt reveal why kissing Scarlett Johansson was ‘hell’, whilst Emily is stunned by Matt’s ability to remember his McDonald’s order. nnOppenheimer releases in UK cinemas on 21 July 2023.nn00:00 – 00:23 Introductionn00:23 – 02:06 You should tell someone if they had bad breathn02:06 – 03:18 Jimmy Fallon is a better talk show host than Jimmy Kimmeln03:18 – 03:56 British food is better than American foodn03:56 – 04:35 Awards shows should have a 20 second limit on speechesn04:35 – 05:32 Sleeping on your own is better than sleeping next to a partnern05:32 – 06:44 You should clap when the plane lands to thank the pilotn06:44 – 07:32 McDonald’s breakfast should be available all day, every dayn07:32 – 08:27 The person opposite is a joy to work withn08:27 – 08:51 Oppenheimer is the best movie being released this weeknnSubscribe To Our Channel: http://bit.ly/SubscribeLADbiblenBe In Our Videos: http://instagram.com/ladbiblecastingnFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladbible/nInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladbible/nTwitter: https://twitter.com/ladbiblenn#LADbible #UNILADnnTo license this video please email: licensing@ladbiblegroup.com","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l5ujKZGgP8o/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"Matt Damon & Emily Blunt Argue Over Bad American Food | Agree To Disagree | @LADbible","type":"video","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5ujKZGgP8o","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"desktop","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://www.huffpost.com","locale":"en_US"},"slideshowAd":{"scriptTags":[],"otherHtml":""},"slideshowEndCard":{"scriptTags":[],"otherHtml":""},"isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"64beb358e4b00356919aa053","entryPermalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/entry/matt-damon-scarlett-johansson-kiss-hell_n_64beb358e4b00356919aa053","entryTagsList":"matt-damon,scarlett-johansson,emily-blunt,@us_huffpost_now","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment","subcategories":"celebrity","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065"},"customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":4},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_slideshow":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"64beb358e4b00356919aa053","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"desktop","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Matt Damon","slug":"matt-damon","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/matt-damon","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/matt-damon","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/matt-damon"},"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Matt Damon","slug":"matt-damon","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment/topic/matt-damon"},{"name":"Scarlett Johansson","slug":"scarlett-johansson","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/scarlett-johansson","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/scarlett-johansson","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/scarlett-johansson"},"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Scarlett Johansson","slug":"scarlett-johansson","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment/topic/scarlett-johansson"},{"name":"Emily Blunt","slug":"emily-blunt","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/emily-blunt","permalink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/emily-blunt","mobileWebLink":"https://www.huffpost.com/topic/emily-blunt"},"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Emily Blunt","slug":"emily-blunt","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://www.huffpost.com/entertainment/topic/emily-blunt"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["<div id="ad-inline-1" class="ad-entry_paragraph_1 ad-spot–gam ad-spot–gam-inline-1"></div>rn<script type="text/javascript">rn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render("inline-1", "entry_paragraph_1", false);rn });rn</script>rn","<div id="ad-inline-2" class="ad-entry_paragraph_3 ad-spot–gam ad-spot–gam-inline-2"></div>rn<script type="text/javascript">rn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render("inline-2", "entry_paragraph_3", false);rn });rn</script>rn","<div id="ad-inline-infinite" class="ad-repeating_dynamic_display ad-spot–gam ad-spot–gam-inline-infinite"></div>rn<script type="text/javascript">rn HPGam.cmd.push(function(){rnttreturn HPGam.render("inline-infinite", "repeating_dynamic_display", false);rn });rn</script>rn"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}”>

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5ujKZGgP8o?rel=0&enablejsapi=1]

Blunt made it clear that there’s a kind of process actors should adhere to while filming intimate scenes.

“You gotta brush your teeth, use some mouthwash, stick some gum on the roof of your mouth, and then we can kiss,” she said, as Damon agreed.

While Johansson hasn’t yet told her side of the onion kissing debacle, she has made it clear that there’s one co-star she would gladly kiss again.

“I would go round 2 with Penelope Cruz,” she told Vogue for a video in 2019, name-dropping her “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” co-star.