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English actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting recently filed a case against film production giant Paramount over a bedroom scene featured in 1968's Romeo and Juliet that showed the duo naked.
As per Variety, the 71-year-old star and Whiting filed a lawsuit in Santa Monica Superior Court on December 30, 2022, stating that the production company s*xually exploited them and distributed their nude images when they were teenagers.
Helmed by Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting were 15 and 16 respectively when they shot for Romeo and Juliet.
The film got nominated for four Academy Awards but also created controversy over a bedroom scene that showed Hussey's br*asts and Whiting's bu*tocks.
Olivia Hussey was assured no nudity will be released in the film
According to the lawsuit, the film's director Zeffirelli, who passed away in 2019, assured Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting that there would be no nudity in the film, and for the bedroom scene, they would be wearing skin-colored clothes.
However, as the days approached of filming the scene, Zeffirelli allegedly talked them into performing the scene nude with body makeup on, or the "film would fail."
The lawsuit also claimed that the director showed the pair where the camera would be placed and assured them no nude scenes would be present in the film, but the contrary happened.
While speaking to Variety, the business manager for both actors, Tony Marinozzi, stated:
“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 lawsuit also stated that both Olivia Hussey and Whiting suffered mental and emotional distress for 55 years after Romeo and Juliet was released and even lost professional opportunities. They had a limited acting career after the film.
In an interview with the publication, Solomon Gresen, Hussey and Whiting's attorney, said:
“Nude images of minors are unlawful and shouldn’t be exhibited. 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.”
Olivia and Leonard Whiting are seeking damages "in excess of $500 million.”
Born on April 17, 1951, Olivia Hussey is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She made her big screen debut with Romeo and Juliet, and later starred in films like Virus and Death on The Nile.
