Joanna Garcia Recalls Kissing James Marsden, On 'When I Was 17'

Actress dishes about her first onscreen smooch in episode premiering Saturday.
By Mawuse Ziegbe

Joanna Garcia
Photo: MTV News

"Reba" actress Joanna Garcia has some fond memories of her first onscreen kiss — which just happened to be with a rising screen heartthrob.

On the latest episode of "When I Was 17," in which Nelly and Karina Smirnoff also share some of their teenage memories, Garcia dishes about her smooch scene with James Marsden, who's graced movies such as "Enchanted" and "X-Men: The Last Stand."

"I was still on [Nickelodeon's] 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' and doing other shows here and there," Garcia recalls. "I did a show called 'Second Noah,' which Jimmy Marsden was my first onscreen kiss. I was hired for the job, and I thought, 'Wow, this guy is dreamy.' "

Garcia's pal Melissa remembers the teen actress was smitten with her co-star's good looks.

"She thought he was so cute, and she was completely giddy about having this role with him," Melissa says.

However, Garcia says the actual on-camera make-out session wasn't as romantic as she would have liked.

"I think it was really embarrassing and weird for him because I was the age of his, like, little sister," she says. "My mom was there. It was the worst possible scenario you could ever imagine. I was terrified."

Melissa remembers coaching Garcia on kissing techniques.

"We were giving her pointers about breath mints and things like that," Melissa says. "She was definitely coming to school talking about it."

Garcia chalked up the awkwardness to lack of experience.

"You don't know at that point how the system works: Do you do the tongue? Do you not do the tongue?" Garcia says. "Now, I'm very set in my ways with these kinds of things. If the tongue slips in there, it's ... a little like, 'Hey! This is work here!' "

She's all business now, but back when she was a necking novice, Garcia remembers she mainly had one thing on her mind: "He was so cute!" she says of Marsden.

— this week featuring Joanna Garcia, Karina Smirnoff and Nelly — premieres Saturday at 11 a.m. on MTV.

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