Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, the teenage stars of 1968’s Romeo and Juliet, have submitted a joint lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court docket in opposition to Paramount Footage, because of a nude scene they shot for the movie after they have been each underage.
Hussey, now 71, was simply 15 years previous when she starred as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, whereas Whiting, now 72, was solely 16 when he portrayed Romeo in director Franco Zeffirelli’s now traditional adaptation of the Shakespeare tragedy. In response to a duplicate of the grievance shared by Deadline, Hussey and Whiting are suing the studio for sexual harassment, negligence, intentional tort, fraud, appropriation of title and likeness, intentional infliction of emotional misery, unfair enterprise practices, and baby sexual abuse.
The pair claims that Zeffirelli initially instructed the 2 star-crossed lovers that they’d be given flesh-colored undergarments to put on throughout their bed room scene, which happens close to the top of the movie. Nonetheless, after they lastly filmed the scene, the pair alleges within the lawsuit, Zeffirelli insisted that they solely put on physique make-up, however assured them that the digital camera wouldn’t seize any nudity. Zeffirelli died in 2019.
In response to the swimsuit, Zeffirelli instructed the youngsters that they needed to act within the nude “or the Image would fail,” which might negatively impression their nascent careers. Within the swimsuit, the pair claims that they “believed they’d no selection however to behave within the nude in physique make-up as demanded.” Within the last reduce of Romeo and Juliet, you possibly can clearly and briefly see Whiting’s naked buttocks and Hussey’s naked breasts within the scene.
Hussey and Whiting allege of their joint submitting that they have been filmed within the nude with out their information, which they are saying is in violation of state and federal legal guidelines in opposition to indecency and the exploitation of kids. The submitting says each Hussey and Whiting have suffered emotional harm and psychological anguish within the a long time since, and that they’ve “suffered a lifetime of lack of earnings” and job alternatives.
The lawsuit in opposition to Paramount Footage, which produced Romeo and Juliet, was submitted beneath a California legislation that has prolonged the statute of limitations for baby intercourse abuse instances and has led to a flood of recent lawsuits and fits that have been beforehand dismissed.
Previous to this lawsuit, Hussey publicly defended the usage of nudity within the movie, in a 2018 interview with Selection tied to fiftieth anniversary of Romeo and Juliet. “No one my age had achieved that earlier than,” she mentioned, claiming that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was wanted for the movie.”
Paramount Footage didn’t instantly reply to Self-importance Truthful’s request for remark.
