The Romeo & Juliet ‘child nudity’ lawsuit could change Hollywood forever

Two stars of the 1968 version of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ are suing Paramount for duping them into appearing naked in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic. But, says Geoffrey Macnab, regardless of whether it succeeds, this looks like a landmark case

British actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Getty)

Never take your clothes off for a middle-aged man who claims that it’s art.” This is what Maria Schneider once said in the UK press as a warning to young actors. She would know, having had her own traumatic experiences as a 19-year-old playing Marlon Brando’s young lover in Bernardo Bertolucci’s sexual psycho-drama Last Tango in Paris (1972).

Last week, two now venerable actors, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, expressed regret that they didn’t heed Schneider’s advice more closely. They alleged that 55 years ago they were tricked into appearing naked in Franco Zeffirelli’s celebrated 1968 screen version of Romeo and Juliet.

Many English literature students will remember the scene in question. Hussey was only 15 when she shot it. Whiting was a year older. Romeo and Juliet are shown waking up naked in bed together at dawn after their secret wedding night. Juliet begs Romeo to stay with her but realises that he is in danger.  “Now be gone,” she implores him. They’re so besotted with each other that they can hardly pull themselves apart. During the early part of the scene, fleeting glimpses are caught of Hussey’s breasts and Whiting’s backside.