Most guys would die for a chance to kiss Hollywood actress Jennifer Lawrence. But Liam Hemsworth, Lawrence's co-star in the upcoming movie installment of "The Hunger Games," joked that thanks to her bad breath, it wasn't as amazing as it sounds.
The Oscar-winning actress would reportedly eat tuna, garlic and other breath-destroying foods before lip-locking scenes.
"Any time I had to kiss Jennifer was pretty uncomfortable," Hemsworth, who plays Gale Hawthorne in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1," said to Jimmy Fallon on his late night show. "When you look at it on the outside it 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."
When it comes to smooching, breath doesn't get much worse than with garlic and tuna. Garlic's powerful stench derives from an odor molecule called allyl methyl sulfide, which wreaks havoc on oral exhalations. Similarly, tuna is loaded with an arsenal of volatile aromatic compounds, producing that dreaded fishy halitosis.
Lawrence clarified her breath situation, saying she didn't try to make the intimate moments unpleasant. She at least warned Hemsworth beforehand about eating those foods and not brushing her teeth.
"I was never like, 'Hey Liam, I just ate tuna and garlic on purpose!'" she explained to Access Hollywood. "I just would happen to eat something. I didn't change the way I was eating for the kissing, which is different than eating something on purpose. Is it worse?"
However, the 24-year-old actress admitted that there are actors that she'd brush her teeth for, but Hemsworth and "The Hunger Games" co-star Josh Hutcherson don't make the list.
"I do that when I'm kissing like Christian Bale or like a real [star] - not when it's like Josh and Liam," she laughed. "[For] Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale, yeah, I'll brush my teeth. I'll pop a mint."
While tossing in a mint or chewing gum are fine ways to mask bad breath, eliminating the odor at its root is a different matter. A surefire solution to getting rid of garlic breath? Start by using a specialty tongue scraper to clean out your mouth. Then, gargle with an oxygenating, alcohol-free mouthwash and finish up by sucking on a specially formulated lozenge.