Nancy Olson is reflecting on locking lips with her former costar William Holden and the slight awkwardness that followed it.
The 97-year-old actress recently recalled shooting the 1950 classic Sunset Boulevard with Holden, saying one romantic scene between them provoked a big reaction from a certain onlooker: Holden’s wife.
Olson, who played aspiring young screenwriter Betty Schaefer in the movie, explained that the scene in question featured her character atop a balcony with Holden’s protagonist Joe Gillis. “Below us were tables and chairs set for dinner, and there were people having a party underneath our love scene,” she said in a new interview with PEOPLE, noting that Holden’s spouse, Ardis, and director Billy Wilder’s spouse, Audrey Wilder, were sitting among the crowd. “It gave me a sense of being on edge.”
Courtesy Everett Collection
‘Sunset Boulevard’ actors (L-R): William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Nancy Olson, and Erich von Stroheim
The actress remembered the director guiding her and Holden through their onscreen embrace. “Billy would say, ‘Okay, at that point, Bill, take Nancy into your arms, hug very closely, draw her in, and do not stop kissing her until I say cut,'” she told PEOPLE. “I thought, ‘Oh God.'”
Olson said she had practiced the scene with Holden without them actually smooching. “We rehearsed it very well, but we never kissed — we got to that point and then that was that,” she said. “But now we’re playing a scene. The camera is rolling, and we get to the point where he asks me what happened, and I answer, ‘You did.’ And he takes me into his arms, and he starts to gently kiss me, but pulls me into the most extraordinary embrace. And we kept this kiss going.”
After a long, uninterrupted snog, someone broke the silence — but it wasn’t the director. “Finally, there was a female voice below us who said, ‘Cut, dammit! Cut!'” Olson said. “And it was Mrs. Holden.”
Olson clarified that her onscreen fling with Holden never translated to an offscreen affair. “Now, this did not lead anywhere — don’t misunderstand!” she said. “But there was a wonderful affection and regard for each other, and an understanding of what we were both going through at the time. So we loved to kiss!”
Courtesy Everett Collection
‘Sunset Boulevard’ stars Gloria Swanson, William Holden, and Nancy Olson
While detailing the same incident in a new interview with Deadline, Olson praised her costar’s talents. “It was lovely… he knew how to kiss,” she said of Holden. “It’s an art, by the way.”
The actress also spoke highly of Holden’s performance to PEOPLE. “He had an understanding of the role of Joe Gillis, who was desperate, losing everything, and he ended selling his soul for survival, that character,” she said of her costar, who went on to win an Oscar for his turn in 1953’s Stalag 17. “Bill understood it, and, absolutely, I think it’s a brilliant performance. Anybody who watches [Sunset Boulevard], watch Bill: Bill is amazing.”
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Released in 1950, Sunset Boulevard follows a struggling screenwriter, played by Holden, who becomes entangled with aging Hollywood actress Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), who is desperate for a comeback. The film received 11 Oscar nominations and won the awards for Best Story and Screenplay, Best Art Direction – Black-and-White, and Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
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