All My Children alum Jill Larson (ex-Opal Cortlandt) experienced a very intimate moment on film, and it was so special, the resulting video is one of the most-watched YouTube videos of the year.
Titled First Kiss, the intimate black and white film documented 20 complete strangers coming together and kissing for the first time. As Soap Central previously reported, Larson participated in the film, which has now garnered more than 94 millions views -- making it the third most-watched YouTube video of the year.
Though very popular, First Kiss created quite a stir once it was made widely clear that the video was actually an advertisement for clothing company Wren and that most of the "strangers" were actually models. Though the director of the video -- Tatia Pilieva -- says the participants truly were strangers, whether part of the entertainment industry or not. "It felt so real and sincere and it was," she told the New York Times, explaining that each couple really did meet for the first time the day the video shoot take place. "They shed all these layers in front of our eyes and in front of the cameras and that sweetness and kindness resonated with people."
Says Larson of the shoot, "I had worked with the filmmaker, Tatia Pilieva, on a full-length film... So she just sent an email and said, 'You know, I'm doing this little thing. Do you want to come by for a half an hour on this and such a day, and this is what we're going to do -- this is the premise,' And I thought, 'Wow, that's kind of interesting.' I've certainly had plenty of kisses with, maybe not strangers, but people I wasn't romantically involved with in my line of duty, if you will, as an actress. But that was always as a character, that was always with someone that I had some familiarity, some knowledge of, and it was always directed, so it had an intention and there were things expected of the kiss. This one was just me, and I thought, 'That's an interesting experience and an experiment, to see, what is that like? So I was intrigued by the idea, and I have so much respect and appreciation for this woman and her talent. Tatia is a deeply talented artist, so I felt safe in her care."
"It was a lovely, pure kind of experience," Larson continues. "It just was very special. And it's been so amazing to me to see this thing go viral the way it has, and I feel that that's a very positive thing. I like to think that that is a reflection of a larger sort of yearning or longing that we have for connection and maybe recapturing some innocence in our lives. So in these harsh and difficult times, it's nice to know that there are people responding to something as sort of pure as I felt this little thing was."
In addition to various films, Larson appeared as AMC's Opal Cortlandt from 1989 through 2011 when the soap aired on ABC's daytime lineup, and she reprised the role for the online reboot of the series in 2013. She also guest-starred as a fashion show stage manager earlier this year on CBS' The Young and the Restless.
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