The film 'Splash' was released 40 years ago on March 9, 1984, prompting Daryl Hannah to reflect on her experience of being nude on-screen and kissing Tom Hanks.
Hannah told People Despite her affection for the movie, filming it was not always easy. At 23, she was very anxious about the kissing and nude scenes, having not had a boyfriend yet. She explained that the first time you have to kiss someone you don't know is embarrassing. Therefore, she chose to skip the kissing scenes in rehearsals until she was ready for the first kiss with her costar.
In the movie, Hannah's character Madison saves the life of a young boy who later falls in love with her as an adult. Director Ron Howard came up with the idea of covering her boobs with hair because they didn't want her to wear a shell bathing suit top. When shooting scenes underwater, Hannah made sure to tape her hair down to her breasts.
Hannah shared that when shooting underwater scenes, she ensured her hair was taped down to her breasts to prevent any wardrobe mishaps.
Director Ron Howard praised Hannah as 'amazing' during filming, not noticing her anxiety. He recognized that she understood the necessity of doing certain things for the movie and truly embodied her character as a natural, free-spirited creature.
In 2016, Hannah revealed that her mermaid costume, made of latex and hand-painted gills, took hours to put together. She often spent up to eight hours in the makeup chair. Empire Hannah explained that her mermaid costume, consisting of latex and hand-painted gills, took hours to put on because it needed to be both seamless and buoyant enough for underwater scenes.
She also faced the challenge of wearing the costume for long periods, as it was difficult to put on and take off, and needing to carefully manage bathroom breaks.
Moreover, she found the costume uncomfortable to wear out of the water, so Hanks would feed her snacks while she remained in the pool, feeling like a beached dolphin.
The mermaid costume was also uncomfortable to wear on land, so she would tape her hair down to her breasts for underwater scenes.
