Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence have a lengthy history that includes starring in the Hunger Games franchise together and sharing stories about kissing each other both on- and off-camera. Between 2012 and 2015, they appeared in four movies based on the popular book series; Lawrence played protagonist Katniss Everdeen while Hemsworth played Katniss' friend and love interest Gale Hawthorne. They had to film a kiss as their characters, which was evidently not as romantic as it looked onscreen. Hemsworth called kissing the Oscar-winner both "awkward" and "uncomfortable," while Lawrence admitted some even juicier gossip. Read on to find out more.
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Hemsworth said Lawrence would sabotage their kisses.
In 2014, Hemsworth opened up about kissing Lawrence for The Hunger Games during an appearance on The Tonight Show. According to him, she would purposely eat stinky food to make her breath smelly before filming.
"Any time I had to kiss Jennifer was pretty uncomfortable. Pretty awkward," the Australian actor said. "When you look at it on the outside, looks like a great picture. She's one of my best friends, I love her. But if we had a kissing scene, she would make a point of eating garlic or tuna fish or something that was disgusting. Right before the scene she'd be like, 'Yeah, I had tuna' or 'I had garlic, and I didn't brush my teeth.' Fantastic. I can't wait to get in there and taste it."
Lawrence said that Hemsworth had it wrong... sort of.
Warning: Explicit language in the video above.
Lawrence debunked Hemsworth's story about kissing—or at least one part of it. While she admitted that she ate smelly food before they kissed, she said it wasn't done purposely to mess with him.
During a 2023 appearance on Hot Ones, Lawrence shared, "It was not intentional. It was just what I was eating and then we’d kiss." She added, "He should just, you know, get over it."
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They shared a kiss in real life, too.
Lawrence and Hemsworth's lip-locking didn't only take place while they were in character. When Lawrence was a guest on Watch What Happens Live in 2015, she played the game "Plead the Fifth," in which she was only allowed to skip answering one tough question. Host Andy Cohenasked her if she and Hemsworth had "ever kissed when the cameras weren't rolling."
She responded while laughing, “Liam and I grew up together. Liam's real hot. What would you have done?" Cohen answered, "I would say yes," to which Lawrence said, "Yeah." Referring to the love triangle Katniss is in with Hemsworth's character and Josh Hutcherson's character, Cohen added, "I'd pick Gale over Peeta any day."
"I did at one point," Lawrence joked.
There was a rumor Lawrence and Hemsworth had an affair.
Tinseltown / ShutterstockIn 2023, Miley Cyrus released the song and music video "Flowers," which many assumed to be about Hemsworth—her ex-husband. Some fans took it further and theorized that there are clues in the video that he had an affair with his co-star. Those fans point to Cyrus wearing a gold dress that resembles the one Lawrence wore to the premiere of the first Hunger Games movie in 2012.
Appearing again on Watch What Happens Live last year, Lawrence said of the theory (via People), "Not true, total rumor. I mean, we all know me and Liam, like, kissed one time. It was years after they'd broke up."
Hemsworth and Cyrus dated on and off from 2009 to 2012 before breaking up. They got back together around 2016 and married in 2018 before separating in 2019.
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