Director Explains Why Halle Berry And Mark Wahlberg Don’t Kiss in ‘The Union’

“The Union” brought Halle Berry and Mark Wahlberg together for a romantic thriller, sans a kiss between the main characters.

Julian Farino, who directed the new Netflix movie, revealed to Variety at the Los Angeles premiere on Aug. 12 that the decision for Berry and Wahlberg’s characters not to kiss was “long debated.”

“We take the relationship to a certain place, and then I think you’ve got to leave a lot of space to go,” Farino said. “Netflix always said to us at the beginning, ‘You have to think of this as a possible three-movie idea.’”

Farino added, “So if an audience comes out wanting a kiss, then we’ve probably done alright, in my opinion.”

The movie’s stars agreed with Farino on the decision, with Berry telling the publication, “Once they kiss, then it’s over. We’re hoping if we get to do a second one, we’ll let that chase continue.”

“You want to see the journey — to see these two high school sweethearts find each other,” Berry added.

Wahlberg echoed a similar sentiment, explaining, “If we get to go on and do something else, I would imagine there’ll be a lot more than a kiss. But, you know, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.”

“The Union,” which debuted on Netflix on Aug. 16, follows former high school sweethearts Roxanne (Berry) and Mike (Wahlberg) who reconnect when Roxanne recruits Mike to join a secret syndicate fittingly called The Union.

Mike is recruited after a list of the identities of every United States spy was stolen, with the group needing a someone who was not on the list to help get it back. Amid the action and adventure of Mike’s secret mission, sparks fly between the two former lovers.

The new streaming hit made a similar decision to the summer blockbuster “Twisters,” starring Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. Despite chemistry between their characters Tyler and Kate, their romantic kiss at the airport at the end of the film was ultimately cut.

Director Lee Isaac Chung shared his reasoning for cutting the kiss between Powell and Edgar-Jones Entertainment Weekly in July, explaining, “I actually tried the kiss, and it was very polarizing — and it’s not because of their performance of the kiss.“

“This [no-kiss shot] was the other option that I had filmed on the day, and I got to say, I like it better,” Chung added.

Chung said he thought it was “a better ending,” before noting, “And I think that people who want a kiss within it, they can probably assume that these guys will kiss someday.”

Edgar-Jones agreed with the director, explaining, “It felt nice and refreshing to not have to end up on that beat because what you’re ending it on is two individuals who are so equal in their love and interest and intelligence and understanding of weather.”