Actors of 1968 Romeo and Juliet sue Paramount for teen nude scene

Actors Olivia Hussey, 71, and Leonard Whiting, 72, are suing Paramount Pictures for $500 million for showing them nude in the Oscar-winning 1968 film Romeo and Juliet.

Both the actors were minor at the time—Hussey, who played Juliet was 15, and Whiting, who played Romeo, was 16. In the lawsuit, the actors are accusing Paramount of sexually exploiting them during the filming of the 1968 classic.

The actors claim that more than 50 years ago the now-deceased filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli coerced them into shooting a nude scene by making false promises. He told the two minor actors that they would be wearing skin-colored undergarments.

Zeffirelli allegedly further assured the actors that the camera placement wouldn’t allow any nude scenes to be captured. Despite the promises, they were shot in the nude without their knowledge and Paramount went on to release the movie.

Court filings say that the actors suffered emotional damage and mental anguish for decades. 

The case was filed at the end of 2022 through the now-expired California law that temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for older claims of child sexual abuse.