It's been 36 years since Disney's romantic fantasy comedy Splash hit theaters, and now the cast and creators are coming together virtually to share their memories of the project. Among those who joined the reunion were stars Tom Hanks and Daryl Hannah, and the pair dished on the challenges of the movie's iconic underwater kiss.
The gathering of stars -- which also included director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer -- was part of Josh Gad's ongoing web series, Reunited Apart.
The reunion gave fans of the cult classic -- about a directionless young man and a beautiful mermaid -- some fascinating insight into how the project came together and what it was like filming some of the movie's more challenging subaquatic scenes.
According to Hannah, who played the awestruck mermaid Madison in the 1984 comedy, she was incredibly nervous to audition for the part, and even more nervous when it came to some of the film's more romantic moments.
"I was terrified," Hannah, 59, admitted of the film's kissing scenes, which include her and Hank's very first on-camera appearance together after they first meet on a beach. "So even though I was like 21 or 22, I still really hadn't had a boyfriend. So I was terrified about the kiss."
The romantic story of self-discovery and mythological sea creatures included numerous scenes shot entirely underwater, which Howard explained was one of the biggest obstacles.
"Before we ever rolled any film, we also had to figure out how we were going to film the underwater work," Howard said, before explaining that everyone, including the actors, had to get certified as scuba divers for the project.
"That was one of the best great adventures of the whole thing,” Hanks said, explaining that shooting the film meant "going on vacation and getting paid to learn how to scuba dive.”
However, scuba gear aside, acting underwater was still a challenge, even after the technical aspects of filming underwater had been worked out.
"Tom and I didn't have masks, so we couldn't really see," Hannah recalled. "So it was like hit or miss whether we got the signals or understood them or not."
The big reunion also included comedy icon Eugene Levy -- who played the film's unintentional antagonist, Dr. Walter Kornbluth -- and featured a special tribute to the late John Candy, who played Hank's brother in the film.
To honor Candy's memory, Ryan Reynolds recorded a special tribute to the comedic legend, which closed out the reunion special with a montage of clips from some of Candy's most famous films.
Recently, ET's Nischelle Turner spoke with Gad via video chat, and the Frozen star opened up about why he decided to start Reunited Apart and how he brought together some of the show's massive reunions -- which have also included the casts of The Goonies and Back to the Future.
"I've been doing a lot of revisiting of movies that were so important to me during my childhood. I've watched the pure joy on my children's faces as I've shown them those very movies that influenced my life," Gad said. "One night we were watching The Goonies, and it's always been a dream of mine to reunite that cast. I sort of just decided on a whim that I'm gonna do this, and I started reaching out individually, one by one."
Check out the video below to hear more.
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