Stars of 1968 film Romeo and Juliet sue Paramount Pictures in $500 million lawsuit over nude scene

Neil Connery looks at whether the lawsuit could set a precedent in the film industry

The two stars of the film Romeo and Juliet, released in 1968, are suing Paramount Pictures for more than $500 million (over £414 million) over a nude scene in the film shot when they were teenagers.

Olivia Hussey, who played Juliet when she was 15 and is now 71, and Leonard Whiting, who was 16 when he played Romeo and is now 72, filed the suit on Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud.

Director Franco Zeffirelli, who died in 2019, initially told the two that they would wear flesh-coloured underwear in the bedroom scene that appears late in the movie and was shot on the final days of filming, the suit alleges.

But on the morning of the shoot, Zeffirelli told the actors they would wear only body makeup, while still assuring them the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity, according to the suit.

Yet they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge, in violation of California and federal laws against indecency and the exploitation of children, the suit says.

Zeffirelli told them they must act in the nude “or the Picture would fail" and their careers would be hurt, the suit said.

The actors “believed they had no choice but to act in the nude in body makeup as demanded.”

Mr Whiting's bare buttocks and Ms Hussey's bare breasts are briefly shown during the scene.

The film, and its theme song, were major hits at the time and has been shown to generations of secondary school students studying the Shakespeare play since.

The court filing says that Ms Hussey and Mr Whiting have suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades, and that each had careers that did not reflect the success of the movie.

It says given that suffering and the revenue brought in by the film since its release, the actors are entitled to damages of more than $500 million.

The lawsuit was filed under a California law temporarily suspending the statute of limitations for child sex abuse, which has led to a host of new lawsuits and the revival of many others that were previously dismissed.

Ms Hussey defended the scene in a 2018 interview with Variety, which first reported the lawsuit, for the film's 50th anniversary.

“Nobody my age had done that before,” she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. “It was needed for the film.”

Representatives of Paramount have not yet responded.

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