Romeo and Juliet actors sue Paramount for child abuse by tricking them into nude scenes in 1968 movie

Published January 4, 2023 | By NewsJive.com

British actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are suing Paramount Pictures for child abuse after claiming they were tricked into making nude scenes as young teenagers at the age of 15 and 16 in the 1968 movie “Romeo and Juliet”.

Hussey and Whiting that today are in their 70s, say that the director to the movie, the late Franco Zeffirelli who passed away in 2019, promised them back then that there would be no nudity involved when making the movie.

The actors have now filed a lawsuit in Santa Monica Superior Court, accusing Paramount of sexually exploiting them and distributing nude images of adolescent children, according to Variety.

According to the complaint, Hussey and Whiting have “suffered mental anguish and emotional distress” in the 55 years since the film’s release, and have also “lost out on job opportunities”. Despite their breakout performances, Hussey and Whiting had only very limited acting careers after “Romeo and Juliet.”

The actors are seeking damages “believed to be in excess of $500 million.”

But in an interview in 2018 with Variety, Hussey defended the nude scenes, saying “Nobody my age had done that before”, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was needed for the film.” Apparently she has changed her mind about that now.

Although the movie was a hit and was nominated for four Academy Awards, it was already back then considered to be somewhat controversial, involving naked bedroom scenes with images og Whiting’s buttocks and Hussey’s bare breasts.

Here is a video with Whiting and Hussey in an 1967 interview.

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