Olivia Hussey

The actors claim director Franco Zeffirelli made them feel they had 'no choice but to act in the nude' and have suffered emotional damage and mental anguish ...

“It was needed for the film.” But on the morning of the shoot, Zeffirelli told Whiting, who played Romeo, and Hussey, who played Juliet, that 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. [Franco Zeffirelli](/topic/franco-zeffirelli), originally told them there would not be any nudity in the film but then told them on the day the scene was shot they must act in the nude “or the Picture would fail” and their careers would be hurt.

The director told them they must act in the nude or the movie "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." "Nobody my age had done that before," she said, adding that Zeffirelli shot it tastefully. Zeffirelli told them they must act in the nude "or the Picture would fail" and their careers would be hurt, the suit said.

Why have the actors, Olivia Hussey (71) and Leonard Whiting (72), alleged fraud and sexual abuse? Why have they filed the case more than five decades after ...

The actors “believed they had no choice but to act in the nude in body makeup as demanded.” That would be the beginning for sure,” Gresen said. In 2020, the state of California gave people a three-year window to file complaints of child sexual abuse even if the statute of limitations for their case had expired. However, on the day of the shoot, he told them they would have to wear nothing but body makeup, but the camera would be so positioned that it would not show nudity, the AP reported. They have sued the studio in Los Angeles County Superior Court for sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud, the AP reported. Zeffirelli’s adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet remains a classic, often serving as American schoolchildren’s introduction to the work.

Romeo And Juliet stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are suing Paramount Pictures after claiming they were exploited – what age were they?

“Nobody my age had done that before,” she recalled, before adding a “tasteful” performance was “needed for the film.” “These were very young naive children in the Sixties who had no understanding of what was about to hit them,” their attorney, Solomon Gresen, said. The suit alleges the actors “believed they had no choice but to act in the nude in body make-up as demanded.” The romance didn’t last but they have remained lifelong friends and even text each other “at least once every ten days,” Hussey told [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/olivia-hussey-recalls-controversial-romeo-and-juliet-role-at-16-reveals-personal-tragedies). Whiting has now retired, with 2015 film Social Suicide marking the actor’s last production and his first project alongside Hussey since Romeo And Juliet. Zeffirelli passed away in 2019 at the age of 96.