Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey discuss Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’
Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey performed as the two titular characters in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film Romeo and Juliet. However, prior to the film’s production, they starred in the theatre show that toured Italy. The pair have recently opened a lawsuit against Paramount studios as they feel that they were exploited in the nude scene that they performed.
After the theatre run, both Whiting and Hussey sat down in an interview to discuss the play’s production, their future careers and Zeffirelli’s artistry as a director. “There are no real big stars in the actual play,” Whiting noted. “[There are] people who are very well known, but not really stars, so it was almost in a way like a repertory company performing the play because no one was stars because they’d not done big things before, you know.”
Hussey expressed her admiration for Zeffirelli as a director and noted that he is a meticulous artist who leaves no stone unturned when it comes to creating the best possible performance. “He goes over the part with you,” she said. “He won’t accept second best. It has to be the best you can get.”
Discussing the nude scene, Hussey said, “Oh god, I was dreading that scene. They did it gradually, though, and nobody was allowed to watch.” As for whether the scene was “improved” by performing it nude, Hussey added, “Yes, because it doesn’t look dirty.”
Whiting then noted that there had been a change of setting for the nude scene. “It was always played on the balcony anyway, the whole scene from the beginning, they had [initially] decided to do it in the bedroom. I think it works better that way.”
The interviewer then asked whether the pair were concerned over the fact that sometimes when two young actors are catapulted into big roles, they often aren’t heard of again. “It’s very hard to know what to do afterwards and what you want to do. I mean, it’s different if you want to become a movie star, an actor who does theatre, television and movies. It’s two different sides of the coin.”
Whiting then answered a question on how the pair got along, having not known each other before the play. “Very badly,” he joked before adding, “No, very well. Yes, quite well. You can’t really [worry about whose getting the lines] in Romeo and Juliet because they are written in such a way that that can’t spoil the play.”
