How Theo James Really Felt About Kissing Shailene Woodley

2014 seems like a fever dream sometimes, but if there's one thing that was great, it was the teen dystopian book-turned-movie adaptations. There was "The Maze Runner," "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay," and of course "Divergent," which came at the end of this era. 

"Divergent," starring teen movie it-girl of the moment Shailene Woodley, brought on somewhat of a newcomer, Theo James, to play her love interest. While "The Hunger Games" was more about the societal fractures that caused children to kill each other for sport with a love story on the side, "Divergent" mixed its dystopian narrative with the tortured love interests fighting for themselves and others.

Woodley was really into playing a girl going through dramatic situations while also finding love in it all. At the time, she had just finished "The Spectacular Now" with Miles Teller and "The Fault in Our Stars" came out the same year as "Divergent." So kissing on-screen wasn't anything new to her. But James only had one really memorable role before this, in an episode of "Downton Abbey." So it makes sense why he might have wanted to lean into their love story and make it just right. So how did James really feel about kissing Woodley? The answer isn't all that surprising.

"Divergent" followed Tris (Shailene Woodley) living in a dystopian version of Chicago, centuries in the future when strict factions were set in place, all representing a certain type of person. At 16, you took a brain test to see where you landed. Tris ended up testing into a couple of factions, which is a big no-no for those in charge; it means she's too powerful to be controlled. When she chooses to be Dauntless — the dangerous, rough, and edgy faction — she meets Four (Theo James), who is also just as unique. They of course fall in love while their world also falls apart around them.

In a dangerous on-screen world, a love story is of course going to be one of the biggest aspects. And for James, he had to get the kissing scene with Woodley just right. "I just wanted to practice the kissing scene with Shai as much as possible. I'd say, 'Listen, after dinner we could just go over that scene again,'" James told Bustle in 2014. "The kissing scene with Shai and I, we wanted that to be as good as possible. Because it's the only scene where [Four and Tris] get together, and we wanted it to be real and not just be lots of cheese." When speaking with Games Radar, James also called kissing Woodley the "toughest stunt" out of the whole action movie because of how much pressure they put into making the scene look good.

But don't worry; Shailene Woodley probably didn't mind, since she liked Theo James' kissing just as well. "He's an incredibly masculine man with a beautiful soulful heart — and he was a great kisser," she told People in 2014. "I've been trying to think of funny jokes to say, but I just haven't thought of anything funny. So yeah, if you want your headline to be 'Theo James Is a Good Kisser,' you can have it." Luckily they didn't mind their on-set romance as the series would go on to make two more films. And James' kissing antics wouldn't stop there either.

When speaking with Express UK in November 2022, Will Sharpe — who plays Ethan Spiller on HBO's "The White Lotus" — talked about James' character Cameron Sullivan and his numerous on-screen cheek kisses. "He loved doing that," Sharpe said. "I think it's his way of being playful and sexually voracious and showing who's boss in this weird way." Of course, this is about Cameron's power plays, not James' on-set stunts. In the show, Cameron and Will are college best friends who work together in a successful start-up, and Cameron is seemingly trying to have the upper hand with Will constantly. "It's like a micro powerplay," Sharpe said, noting that James improvised these smooches. "But yeah, I noticed that too and would just react to it as I thought Ethan would."