In a new interview this week, Olivia Newton-John took a look back to recall her first kiss on the set of Grease with her costar John Travolta.

“It was at the beach — actually the opening scene of the movie,” Newton-John, 72, told US Weekly. “It was a beautiful day. We were playing around in the water, and I don’t really remember exactly, but it was a very lovely day and an exciting moment because it was the start of the film, although everything was kind of out of order, but we did that. That was the first time we had kissed.”

Though Newton-John have become close friends in the decades since they filmed the 1978 movie, they were strangers at the time.

“I was nervous of course,” she confessed. “I remember just before that we were sitting on a rock and it’s actually in the movie that these waves broke over us. These rogue waves came in. And I can’t remember if that was before or after that because my hair was perfect. So maybe it was after that. But it was a very special day and it was really a nice way to get to know John a little bit because we hadn’t spent all that much time together. We had some rehearsal time and dance time and stuff, but this was our first acting day. It was lovely. It was special. And I can’t remember exactly everything ‘cause it’s over 40 years ago.”

Newton-John went on to say that romantic scenes are “not something that I know how to prepare for,” since she has not had many in her career.

“You just do it. And you’re the character,” she said. “You’re playing a character.”

However, Newton-John had nothing but praise for Travolta.

“John is a lovely, sweet man. And he made all my acting experiences really easy. He was very thoughtful and encouraged me if he thought I wasn’t doing a good enough job,” she recalled, adding that the actor once “deliberately messed up the tape” to give her the opportunity to redo a scene.

“And that was just a sample of his generosity as an actor,” Newton-John said. “There are a few times where I had to be mad at him or upset, and he was kind of off with me and not talking to me and kind of got me on edge, which is perfect for the scene because I needed to be that way. And I wasn’t an experienced actor. So he kind of directed me a couple of times. He did it on purpose.”