Ben Kingsley Says Mary-Kate Olsen is 'Wonderful'

Ben Kingsley, who is co-starring in the new independent film ‘The Wackness’ with Mary-Kate Olsen, Josh Peck and Famke Janssen, recently spoke with Access Hollywood about his recent steamy scene with Mary-Kate.

Access Hollywood writes:

After news broke that Ben Kingsley shares a passionate kiss with Mary-Kate Olsen in their new film, “The Wackness,” the 63-year-old Oscar winner spoke with Access about the make out scene with the actress who is 42 years his junior.

“Mary-Kate has huge energy. She is very, very committed to her work,” Kingsley told Access during a visit to the set.

“The Wackness” stars Josh Peck as Luke, a teenage drug dealer who trades pot for sessions with his therapist Dr. Squires, played by Kingsley. Mary-Kate plays Union, one of Peck’s customers. After Dr. Squires has a falling out with his wife (Famke Janssen), he forms a friendship with Luke.

Luke and Dr. Squires deal some drugs, get drunk in a bar and that’s when the elder Kingsley hooks up with Union.

Video: Ben Kingsley’s Kiss & Tell

“There is a very passionate scene in the film which we filmed last week. It went extremely well and she was very focused. She was very good, very professional,” Kingsley continued. “She was quite wonderful.”

But does the veteran actor (who won Best Actor for “Gandhi” in 1983) think the scene will stir up a little controversy once people see it?

“I’m sure it will. She is this great free spirit, you know, she is equally seducing so it is a level playing field,” Kingsley explained. “[It's] for a few seconds and then we disappear and we never see each other in the movie. But she is a trigger into my quest for happiness.”

Along with his praise of Olsen, Kingsley also complimented the work of fellow co-star Peck, the 20-year-old actor best known from Nickelodeon’s “Drake & Josh.”

“I would say the two of them, Josh and Mary-Kate, are great role models for their contemporaries. There are so many kids at their age tragically crashing and burning, and not these two. They are so hard working, so focused and so good to be with. They are wonderful people to be with,” he concluded.

You can watch a video of the interview by clicking here.