A kiss is still a kiss. Does it matter if the one you kiss is male or female if the scene, or the role, calls for it? For some actors, kissing a man is a lot easier than kissing a woman in cinematic terms and for cinematic purposes.

Sid Lucero, one of the stars of "Silip Sa Apoy," who has acted in a few gay-oriented films, says it’s a lot less complicated to kiss a man than a woman from personal experience.

“When doing a kissing scene or a love scene with a woman, you have to be more careful. First, you are there to make the scene good. Second, you have to make sure that you cover up for her, that her privates are not exposed unnecessarily. Third, you must be aware not to go beyond her limitations.’’

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It’s the exact opposite when doing a kissing scene with a man, as Sid did early on in his career in movies like Muli and Selda, where he won an Urian best actor.

In Muli, Sid and co-actor Cogie Domingo engaged in a series of steamy love scenes as they played reunited lovers.

In Selda, set in a prison cell, he was the object of desire by an older inmate, Emilio Garcia. Man to man kissing, says the veteran actor not quite 40, is not as demanding as man to woman, requirements-wise. “There are no such considerations when you kiss a fellow actor on camera. Since you are both men, you go through the scene as normally, as straightforward, as routinely, as possible. You give it your best shot, so you won’t have to repeat it.’’

There aren’t also any other considerations when an actor kisses a fellow actor. No cover-ups are required. No limitations, too. No issues about respect, going beyond boundaries, and all that.

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Sid Lucero’s opinion has found an echo among younger actors like Paolo Gumabao and Vince Rillon, co-stars in a boys-love film called Sisid, by Brillante Mendoza.

Set in rural Mindoro, the film captures the two actors, playing two straight men, in a number of sizzling love scenes, above and underwater.

Paolo, who first did a love scene with another actor in Lockdown, by Joel Lamangan, also says it makes no difference whether he kisses a man or a woman on cam. The experience remains the same. It’s still a kiss, he says, that you can enjoy or forget later.

Vince says men and women have the same set of lips, although some are softer than others. Kissing a man yields the same beautiful sensation as kissing a woman. “Pareho lang sila,” the star of Siklo, Resbak, and Sisid says.

Both said they want to perfect a scene during the shoot by giving it everything they’ve got. No holding back.