Christopher Atkins Remembers ‘Dallas’ Kiss Prank That Left Him Numb-Lipped

Christopher Atkins will never forget the day Linda Gray, the original TV ‘cougar’, left his lips numb during a memorable on-screen kiss for the legendary series ‘Dallas’. Atkins, who played the notably younger Peter Richards opposite Gray’s Sue Ellen Ewing in the early 1980s, recalled the infamous moment with a grin—because how could you not?

On their first kissing scene, set dramatically on a lakeside dock, Atkins said the atmosphere was already charged. After the director called ‘cut’, Gray cheekily asked, "So how was it?" Before Atkins could fully answer, he realized his lips had gone completely numb. Turns out, Gray had secretly smeared her lips with dental numbing gel as a prank. Atkins’s Hollywood initiation was anything but ordinary—nothing like a little anesthesia to spice up a TV romance.

Their steamy storyline—Sue Ellen sneaking around with her much younger boy toy—set tongues wagging in the ‘80s and even landed them on the cover of US magazine under the headline "Robbing the Cradle." Atkins, just 22 at the time, faced real-life reactions too. He recalled a woman confronting him at a hotel, exclaiming, "You’re too young for her!" Sometimes art imitates life a little too closely.

Pranks were a way of life on the ‘Dallas’ set. According to Atkins, no one was safe from practical jokes, calling his castmates “fun and nuts.” Producers also put him in tiny swim trunks for his sex symbol image, leading to a legendary note from the network asking him to "quit stuffing my Speedo." Atkins suspects his co-stars were behind that particular stunt—classic ‘Dallas’ mischief.

Before ‘Dallas’, Atkins had already made waves starring in ‘The Blue Lagoon’ at just 18. The film, featuring a then-14-year-old Brooke Shields, was controversial for its depiction of adolescent sexuality but found box office success and even an Oscar nomination for cinematography. Atkins shared how the film’s naturalistic approach and isolated island setting made the lack of clothing seem normal, a far cry from the shock it caused among critics and audiences back home.

Now 64, Atkins looks back at his Hollywood journey with no regrets. He married young, focused on being a dad, and worked steadily across more than 100 film and TV projects—though he admits he’s still chasing the dream of directing his own film. "That’s the last box I now want to check off," Atkins said, reflecting on a career that’s been as unpredictable as a ‘Dallas’ plot twist.