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Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey, the lead actors in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968), filed a lawsuit against the distribution company Paramount Pitcures for more than $100 million. The actors accuse the corporation of sexual harassment and sexual exploitation, fraud, negligent attitude, unfair business practices, intentional infliction of moral damage, appropriation of the name and image, writes Deadline.
It is emphasized that at the time of filming Whiting was 16 years old, Hussey was 15. Zeffirelli promised that he would not shoot them naked and that in all the sex scenes the teenagers would wear flesh-colored underwear. However, on the day the love scene was filmed, Zeffirelli allegedly told the actors that they “must be naked or the film will fail at the box office.” “The defendants entered [истцов] misled and secretly filmed [сцены] with naked or partially naked minor children without their knowledge in violation of state law [Калифорния] and federal laws,” the lawsuit says. According to the text of the lawsuit, the actions of the director led to the loss of income by the actors, the cost of treatment, disability and other material and non-material damage.
Zeffirelli was “the only person who accepts [касающиеся фильма] decision,” and Paramount’s “authorized agent,” Hussey and Whiting emphasize. The director himself died in 2019.
According to the publication, the box office adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy exceeded $ 500 million, the picture received two Oscars (for best cinematography and for costume design) and three Golden Globes (for the most promising debuts in a male and female role – Hussie and Whiting – and in the nomination “Best English-language film”).
In an interview with Fox News in 2018, Hussey, commenting on the sex scene from Romeo and Juliet, claimed that “it was not such a big deal” and by the time of shooting, everyone who worked on the film “became a big family.” “And Leonard wasn’t shy at all! At some point during the filming, I completely forgot that I had no clothes on, ”she said.
Paramount did not respond to the publication’s question about the actors’ lawsuit.
Source: Rosbalt
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
