Soap operas are usually the go-to place for television fans to catch love scenes, but just because they happen frequently doesn't mean that the actors who play them like them. In fact, for some -- like The Young and the Restless' Michael Mealor (Kyle Abbott) -- they're downright awkward.
In a new interview with Soap Opera Digest, the actor says that filming love scenes is always a struggle. "It's funny because Hunter King [Summer Newman] and I just look at each other and go, 'It's such a weird job that we have.' In one morning, we filmed two episodes of bed scenes, so in all of that time we were in bed."
He continues, "Love scenes are the most unnatural thing in the world, which can make it really awkward. It just feels a little sterile. There is no emotion attached to it but you have to make it look like there is emotion there. It's an actor's conundrum."
Despite the fact that he doesn't love filming them, Mealor is pretty dang good at playing them -- which he says is mostly due to his working relationship with King.
"Hunter is one of my best friends, which makes doing love scenes easy," he says. "We know each other so well that we don't have to check in with each other, like, 'Are you okay?' or 'Is that too far?' And as soon as they call cut, we are laughing and making jokes. We are relaxed with each other enough that we find it comical and funny because nothing feels right. I think, 'How is this going to look on screen?' and then when it airs, I'll go, 'Oh that turned out pretty well.' It's all in the editing, but in the moment it's really an odd experience."
For more on soap opera love scenes, check out a Soap Central special in which big stars like Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos, General Hospital), James Scott (ex-E.J. DiMera, Days of our Lives), Vincent Irizarry (ex-David Hayward, All My Children; ex-Deimos Kiriakis, DAYS), and more open up about how they feel when they're asked to slip between the sheets for scenes.
How do you feel about the way Michael Mealor views filming love scenes? What elements of soap opera love scenes do you most enjoy? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
