Actors Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey are suing Paramount Studios for sexual exploitation and distributing nude images of them as minors in the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, reports CNN Entertainment.
The suit, filed in Santa Monica Superior Court, claims that late director Franco Zeffirelli assured the actors that they would be able to wear "flesh-colored undergarments" during a bedroom scene but later told them they had to act in the nude or the film would fail. Whiting was 17 and Hussey was 15 at the time.
The scene, which features images of Whiting's buttocks and Hussey's bare breasts, caused the actors mental anguish and emotional distress and cost them job opportunities, according to the suit. The actors are seeking damages in excess of $500 million.
In this 1967 television interview, Whiting and Hussey were asked at the 4-minute mark about the nude scene.
Interviewer: One of the papers reported that you have a nude scene together after the marriage. Is that true?
Hussey: Yes
Interviewer: Did that bother you at all?
Hussey: Oh, God. I was dreading it from the auditions. I was dreading that scene.
