The celebrities of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film Romeo and Juliet are suing over the nude scene they filmed once they had been simply 15 and 16 years outdated.
Olivia Hussey, 71, and Leonard Whiting, 72, filed a lawsuit Friday in Santa Monica Superior Courtroom in California accusing Paramount Footage of sexual harassment, fraud, sexual abuse, and intentional infliction of emotional misery.
Hussey and Whiting, each British, say Zeffirelli initially informed them there wouldn’t be any nudity within the movie.
Nonetheless, on the final day of filming, they declare he mentioned the movie ‘would fail’ until they carried out a scene nude whereas carrying physique make-up.

Olivia Hussey, 71, and Leonard Whiting, 72, filed a lawsuit towards Paramount Studios Friday in California in search of damages ‘believed to be in extra of 500 million’ (pictured in 2018)

The pair had been simply 15 and 16 once they had been solid within the movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s traditional play by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli
‘What they had been informed and what went on had been two various things,’ mentioned Tony Marinozzi, a enterprise supervisor for the actors, in a press release.
‘They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he wouldn’t violate that belief that they had,’ the supervisor mentioned.
‘Franco was their good friend, and admittedly, at 16, what do they do?’ Marinozzi added in a press release to the outlet. ‘There are not any choices. There was no #MeToo.’
The lawsuit alleges the pair had been filmed nude with out their information and they’re now in search of damages ‘believed to be in extra of 500 million.’

Within the lawsuit Hussey and Whiting are accusing Paramount Footage, which launched the movie of sexual harassment, fraud, sexual abuse, and intentional infliction of emotional misery

The film directed by Franco Zeffirelli (pictured with Hussey and Whiting on the film’s Paris premiere) was launched in 1968 to crucial acclaim and earned the Italian filmmaker an Academy Award nomination for Finest Director. Zeffirelli died in 2019 on the age of 96

The lawsuit alleges that the teenagers ‘had no selection however to behave within the nude with physique make-up as demanded on the final day of filming,’ regardless of having initially been promised that no nudity can be filmed or launched
The lawsuit alleges Zeffirelli confirmed the actors the place the digicam can be positioned however that no nudity can be filmed or launched.
Hussey and Whiting thought ‘that they had no selection however to behave within the nude with physique make-up as demanded on the final day of filming.’
The film was launched in 1968 to crucial acclaim and earned Zeffirelli an Academy Award nomination for Finest Director.
He died in 2019 on the age of 96.

In a press release to Selection, Solomon Gresen, legal professional for the pair, mentioned the actors ‘had been very younger naïve youngsters within the ’60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them’ and that the scene prompted them long-term monetary, bodily, and emotional ache
In a press release to Selection, Solomon Gresen, the legal professional for the pair mentioned the actors ‘had been very younger naïve youngsters within the ’60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them.’
The pair mentioned the scene prompted them long-term monetary, bodily, and emotional ache.
The movie additionally price Hussey and Whiting ‘a lifetime of lack of earnings and different employment advantages and job alternatives,’ based on the grievance.
‘Swiftly they had been well-known at a stage they by no means anticipated, and as well as they had been violated in a method they did not know easy methods to cope with,’ Gresen mentioned.
The $500 million in damages the pair is in search of matches the quantity the movie has made since its launch in 1968.
In accordance with Selection, the actors’ lawsuit depends on a California regulation that quickly suspended the statute of limitations on little one sexual abuse claims.
That regulation had a December 31, 2022 deadline.

The actors’ lawsuit depends on a California regulation that quickly suspended the statute of limitations on little one sexual abuse claims. That regulation had a December 31, 2022 deadline

The $500 million in damages the pair is in search of matches the quantity the movie has made since its launch in 1968
Hussey continued to pursue her performing profession and even reunited with Zeffirelli to play Mary, the mom of Jesus, within the director’s acclaimed 1977 mini-series Jesus Of Nazareth.
In an interview from 2018, Hussey claimed Zeffirelli referred to her as ‘Boobs O’Mina’ and that he had admitted she was the unrequited love of his life.
On the time, Hussey additionally mentioned she ‘beloved enjoying Juliet’ however that the press was ‘exhausting.’
Whiting additionally went on to take pleasure in a profession as an actor and singer in his native Britain.

Hussey continued to pursue her performing profession and even reunited with Zeffirelli to play Mary, the mom of Jesus, within the director’s acclaimed 1977 mini-series Jesus Of Nazareth