Kirsten Dunst says she's 'proud' of her iconic upside-down 'Spider-Man' kiss, even though filming it with Tobey Maguire wasn't romantic

• Kirsten Dunst spoke to W magazine about her upside-down kiss with Tobey Maguire in "Spider-Man."
• Dunst said that water got in Maguire's nose and he had trouble breathing while filming.

"Spider-Man" star Kirsten Dunst opened up about the enduring legacy of the Marvel film's iconic kiss and explained how filming the scene with Tobey Maguire was far from romantic.

"I did not feel like it was a famous kiss because Tobey was... water was getting up his nose because of the rain, and then he couldn't breathe in the Spider-Man suit, and then... and it just felt very late at night," Dunst, who portrayed Mary Jane Watson in Sam Raimi's trilogy released between 2002 and 2007, said in a new interview with W magazine,

"I didn't think about it that way," Dunst added.

The "Power of the Dog" star said that she had an inkling that it would be pivotal because Raimi gave her a "book of famous kisses."

"That made me realize how romantic and special Sam wanted this to be," she said. "Even though it wasn't necessarily feeling that way with Tobey hanging upside down."

"I'm proud to be a part of that," Dunst said when interviewer Lynn Hirschberg said that the kiss is now included in "every montage of famous kisses."

"It looked like a great kiss," the actress said.

The famous kiss between Spider-Man and MJ, which has been referenced on "The O. C." and Tom Holland's "Spider-Man: Homecoming," happened more than an hour into the 2002 film.

In the movie, Maguire's web-slinger saved MJ from being attacked in an alley by several men. While hanging upside-down afterward, Spidey told MJ that she has a "knack for getting in trouble," referring to him saving her during a previous incident.

After MJ joked that she had a "superhero stalker," he told her that he happened to be in the neighborhood.

MJ then asked Spidey if she could thank him this time, prompting her to roll down part of the hero's mask and kiss him.

On the film's commentary as part of the home release, Maguire spoke about how difficult it was for him to breathe because the wet mask was covering his nose.

"Water was pouring down," the actor said. "I mean, it couldn't have been more uncomfortable. I literally couldn't breathe."

"I apologized to Kirsten," he continued. "I said, 'Listen, I'm gonna have to suck air out of the side our mouths.' ... The mask is rolled up to my nose and the mask is wet so it's no longer breathable at all. I could only breathe through my mouth and then I was kissing her, so there was nowhere to breathe. It was unbearable. And it was, like, 4:30, 5 in the morning."

Back in November in an interview with Vanity Fair, Dunst said that she felt like the cast of Raimi's trilogy, which included stars like Willem Dafoe (Norman Osborn/Green Goblin) and Alfred Molina (Dr. Otto Octavius/Doc Ock), was "special." She also mentioned that Raimi "was so romantic about this movie."

"So, making it with him didn't feel like a huge movie," Dunst said, "It felt like we were making a tiny movie on a bigger scale."