‘How I survived’ kissing Paul Newman, Rock Hudson
Piper Laurie loves to kiss and tell.
The “Carrie” actress, 90, has recalled working with — and smooching — Hollywood heartthrobs Paul Newman and Rock Hudson back in the day.
Laurie will be honored at the 13th annual TCM Classic Film Festival later this month and spoke to Fox News beforehand about acting (and more) with the two icons.
She dished about how she “survived” smooching the blond-haired, blue-eyed Newman, with whom she worked in 1961’s “The Hustler.”
“Well, it was a great gift to be part of a wonderful film and participate in moments like that. So, I enjoyed every moment of it,” she admitted with a laugh.
She further described what it was like to simply be near the “Sting” star. “We were sitting opposite each other at a rehearsal hall and I remembered he just took my breath away,” Laurie said.
“That’s when I was really confronted with that beauty, those spectacular eyes,” she added.
“He had this lovely, lovely intelligent face. We read through the scripts together, and it calmed me down a little bit. I realized then that he was just a human being like the rest of us,” she continued. “And he was such a hard worker. He had this great desire to be a good actor.”
While the two also appeared in 1957’s “Until They Sail,” they didn’t share scenes together.
The “Children of a Lesser God” actress starred with Hudson in the 1952 comedy “Has Anybody Seen My Gal?”
Laurie and Hudson had been pals and “acting mates” for a while by the time they appeared in the flick together. “We did our first screen test together at Universal, and we were both signed. We became fast friends,” Laurie gushed.
She recalled that the screen test they did was a “passionate love scene,” stating, “I was miscast in it, but I guess the studio was trying to figure out what they could do with me. The line for the scene was kind of ridiculous, but they hired us. And they kept putting us together in movies.”
Laurie also remembered that the “Giant” actor would hang out at her apartment and they would enjoy home-cooked meals together.
“My mother loved to cook, and Rock used to love eating her food,” she recalled. “We were such good pals, so it was a lovely experience.”
Newman was 83 when he passed away in 2008, while Hudson died in 1985 at age 59 from complications due to AIDS.
Laurie added that whenever she thinks about “Pillow Talk” star Hudson, his “laughter comes to mind.” While the pair would often chuckle together, however, Laurie said that Hudson was also “terribly insecure, but so gifted and magnetic to look at.”
The Michigan native recalled a particularly mesmerizing instance when she saw Hudson — who, she said, had “that smile behind his eyes, which was real” — waiting at the doorway of the commissary at Universal.
“He was just standing there, and that alone took your breath away. He was this big guy with a perfect body and perfect face,” Laurie said.
“He was quite a sight. He was born to be a movie star,” she added.