Stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 ‘Romeo and Juliet’ suing Paramount for child abuse
The star players of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, are suing the Paramount Pictures studio for child abuse over the nudity that they exhibited in the film. The pair are seeking reparations of over $500 million.
Whiting was 16 years old when he starred in Zeffirelli’s film, while Hussey was 15 when she began but turned 16 during filming. One scene, in particular, saw Zeffirelli capture Hussey’s breasts and buttocks while she delivers the famous “it was the nightingale and not the lark” line.
Both actors are now in their 70s and have claimed that, at the time, they were given assurances that no nudity would take place. However, on the day of filming, they were pressured into removing their clothes by the studio, who said “the picture would fail” if they did not.
Tony Marinozzi, the manager of the pair, said, “What they were told and what went on were two different things. They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he would not violate that trust they had. Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do? There are no options. There was no #MeToo.”
Solomon Green, the duo’s attorney, noted, “Nude images of minors are unlawful and shouldn’t be exhibited. These were very young naive children in the ’60s who had no understanding of what was about to hit them. All of a sudden they were famous at a level they never expected, and in addition they were violated in a way they didn’t know how to deal with.”
Previously, Hussey had expressed her admiration for Zeffirelli (who died in 2019) and defended the film’s nudity. “Nobody my age had done that before,” she said. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. And Leonard wasn’t shy at all! In the middle of shooting, I just completely forgot I didn’t have clothes on. He just brought things to life. That’s what I loved about Franco. He hired always the most perfect person to do the role, which ever role it was. And then he let that actor do what they felt.”
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