Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting have filed a suit
Stars of 60s film Romeo and Juliet are suing over the movie’s nude scenes, 55 years after its release.
Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were 15 and 16 years old respectively when they starred as the star-crossed lovers in the late Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film version of Shakespeare’s tale.
However, the pair, now in their 70s, are suing Paramount, accusing the studio of sexually exploiting them and distributing nude images of adolescent children.
Hussey and Whiting allege they have suffered mental anguish and emotional distress since the film’s release, and, despite the breakout success of the film (and winning the Golden Globe for best newcomers), claim they lost out on job opportunities.
At the time of its release, the film was a hit and financial success and was nominated for four Academy Awards – winning two for best cinematography and best costume design – despite controversy over a bedroom scene which featured images of Hussey’s breasts and Whiting’s buttocks.
According to Variety, the suit (filed on December 30, ahead of a December 31 deadline following a temporary suspension of the statute of limitations for older claims of child sexual abuse) alleges that Zeffirelli assured both actors that there would be no nudity shown and that flesh-coloured items would be worn while filming the bedroom scene.
The pair appeared in the 1968 film (Picture: Moviestore/Shutterstock)
They were both teenagers at the time (Picture: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock)
However, it’s alleged Zeffirelli – who died in 2019 – encouraged them to go nude ‘or the picture would fail’.
The director is alleged in the suit to have shown the young actors where the camera would be, insisting no nudity would be filmed. The suit goes on to allege Zeffirelli was being ‘dishonest’ and that the pair were indeed filmed nude without their knowledge.
In regards to the claims, the actors’ business manager Tony Marinozzi said: ‘What they were told and what went on were two different things. They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he would not violate that trust they had. Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do? There are no options. There was no #MeToo.’
The actors’ attorney, Solomon Gresen, also said in an interview: ‘These were very young naive children in the ’60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them. All of a sudden they were famous at a level they never expected, and in addition they were violated in a way they didn’t know how to deal with.’
It’s reported they’re seeking damages ‘believed to be in excess of $500million’ (£417m).
In 2018, Hussey defended the nude scene in an interview with Variety, saying Zeffirelli shot it tastefully: ‘Nobody my age had done that before,’ adding, ‘It was needed for the film’.
Paramount is yet to respond to the claim; Metro.co.uk contacted the studio for comment.
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Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were teenagers when they appeared in the 1968 film.
