Stars of Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 Romeo & Juliet adaption Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting have just filed a complaint in Santa Monica Municipal Court against Paramount for the exploitation and dissemination of their naked photographs when they were minors.
The lawsuit’s timing has been questioned, according to Pippo Zeffirelli, the late film director’s son, in a statement to The Guardian:
The director’s son went on to add that the love moment shown in the movie was “far from pornographic” and that during his father’s cinematic career, he continuously spoke out against pornography.
The film itself won two Oscars at the time, and both actors received Golden Globes for their performances.
Hussey and Whiting, who were 15 and 16 at the time the movie was being made, contend that the director deceived them when he claimed that the movie would fail if they didn’t agree to perform the sex scenes in true nudity rather than the flesh-colored bodysuits they had originally intended.
For the loss of performing chances and mental pain they have endured in the 55 years since the movie’s debut, the actors are requesting damages totaling more than $500 million. Their attorney Solomon Gresen stated in an interview that “Nude photos of kids are forbidden and shouldn’t be displayed.”
