(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Steve Carell is fine with being slapped in the face on film, but draws the line at being smooched by a man.

The American star is Cal Weaver in upcoming movie Crazy, Stupid, Love. Cal is thinks his life is perfect until his wife tells him she wants a divorce, and he realised he has no idea about the modern day dating game. Hip younger man Jacob Palmer, portrayed by Ryan Gosling, steps in to help him get back on the scene, with hilarious consequences.

The two actors were encouraged to improvise during the shoot, and pushed each other to see how far they could go. Ryan ended up slapping and kissing Steve, something he wasn't too sure about.

"All I wanted was for him to hit me harder and harder," Steve said of the slap. "It was beautiful."

Ryan then added: "I just put this big Bugs Bunny kiss on Steve. A lot of us were laughing, but Steve is just like, 'Don't kiss me. Slapping is fine, but I gotta draw the line somewhere.'"

Steve has been married to Nancy Carell for 16 years and they have two kids together. He found shooting scenes where his character was supposed to be prowling for women difficult as it was entirely alien to him.

"I have no frame of reference for the science of attracting the opposite sex," he told LA Times. "The bar was only on a sound stage at Warner Bros., but it still felt awkward and uncomfortable. Even sitting at a bar is something my [butt] is not accustomed to doing. And it pained me that beautiful women were being paid to pretend to be attracted to me."

Emma Stone plays Jacob's love interest Hannah, and has spoken about how much she enjoyed working with Steve. She admitted being surprised when she met him, as many comedians she's been introduced to in the past are "always on". She explained Steve is totally different, and prefers discussing his loved ones to cracking jokes when the cameras aren't rolling.

"Boring. Yes, I'm boring," Steve deadpanned. (C) Cover Media