‘Severance’ Star Blames Ex Nicolas Cage for Worst On-Screen Kiss

Severance star Patricia Arquette revealed why her worst on-screen kiss was so bad. And it all goes back to her famous ex-husband Nicolas Cage.

In a new episode of Hot Ones Versus, Arquette joined fellow Severance star Adam Scott to reveal juicy details about their friendship and personal lives or risk burning their mouths with “death wings.” In lieu of having to eat more spicy wings, Arquette revealed her worst on-screen kiss—and how Cage played a part.

Arquette and Cage were married from 1995 to 2001 (though they reportedly separated only months after marrying). “We made a deal that we were going to eat garlic if we had to do a love scene,” Arquette explained. “So I ate garlic before I had to kiss Ewan McGregor,” resulting in her worst on-screen kiss, she revealed. She starred with McGregor in 1997’s Nightwatch.

“I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry, but I told my husband I was going to—I have to eat some garlic,’” she recalled telling McGregor. But her sacrifice wasn’t mutual for her then-husband. “Then he had to do a love scene and I’m like, ‘Well did you eat garlic?’ And he was like, ‘I thought we were kidding!’” she said.

According to a 1995 Rolling Stone article, 23-year-old Cage and 18-year-old Arquette had met only hours before he proposed to her in 1987. But the pair didn’t actually marry until reuniting eight years later. This time, it was Arquette who proposed: “When she showed up at my house dressed head to toe in black vinyl, carrying a big purple wedding cake, I knew I was with the right woman,” Cage said.

Arquette never confirmed or denied reports that the couple separated only months into their marriage, telling The Telegraph in 2015, “There were times when we weren’t living together because we were fighting, but it wasn’t as reported and I didn’t feel that I needed to explain that… I still don’t feel like I owe it to anyone.”

Arquette was later married to actor Thomas Jane from 2006 to 2011. Cage has been married four other times since, to the late Lisa Marie Presley, Alice Kim, and Erika Koike. He’s currently married to Riko Shibata, whom he wed in 2021.