"If only I had been tougher" - When Olivia Hussey revealed Hollywood’s dark side in her heartfelt memoir

Olivia Hussey became an overnight sensation after playing Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's period film Romeo and Juliet in 1968. She was selected from over 500 young actresses to portray the character opposite Leonard Whiting's Romeo. Moreover, Leonard was 16 years old and Olivia was merely 15 years old while playing the star-crossed lovers on screen.

The film was released on March 5, 1968, in the United Kingdom and on October 8, 1968, in the United States. It became a critical and commercial success and was widely praised as one of the best adaptations of Shakespeare's works.

Made with a budget of $850,000, the film earned $38.9 million in box office collections, as per The Numbers. However, the lead actors were paid a paltry sum of less than $3000 each for their career-defining roles.

Moreover, the period drama was nominated for four Academy Awards, and ended up winning for 'Best Cinematography' and 'Best Costume Design.' Also, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey both received Golden Globe awards for 'Most Promising Newcomers' in 1969.

Despite her early success, Olivia's career did not pan out as well as she may have hoped. She starred in a string of films and television shows in the following decades but failed to reach the same levels of success and recognition that she received for Romeo and Juliet.

On July 31, 2018, she published her memoir, The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo & Juliet. In the book, she reflected on her past mistakes, noting that her inability to say no negatively impacted her long-term career prospects.

"If only I had been tougher, saying no to the wrong people and yes to the right people. But I always follow my heart."

Olivia Hussey's controversial scene in Romeo and Juliet explained

Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet stayed mostly true to its source material, except for one significant scene. In this particular scene, Whiting’s bare buttocks and Hussey’s bare breasts were on full display, if only for a split second.

The controversial scene takes place as the young couple is lying na*ed in bed after having consummated their marriage. Olivia is covered by a sheet for almost the entirety of the scene, and her bare bre*sts only flash momentarily when she reaches for her nightgown. Similarly, Leonard's bare buttocks are exposed for a brief moment in the scene.

At the time of the film's release, American movies shied away from displaying any kind of nu*ity on screen, unlike their European counterparts. Another reason the scene created quite an uproar was due to the actors' young ages.

Reportedly, their bare bodies were filmed without the actors' consent and they were kept in the dark about its inclusion in the film's final cut. Both the actors only found out about it during the film's premiere.

Olivia Hussey initially seemed unfazed by the film's intimate scene

While promoting her autobiography on Fox News in August 2018, Olivia revisited the controversy from Romeo and Juliet. She revealed that she was very comfortable shooting the nu*e scene, adding "It wasn't that big of a deal."

Furthermore, on the occasion of the film's 50th anniversary in October 2018, the actress again addressed the bedroom scene with Variety. Olivia Hussey shared that she was "very aware" of what she was getting into, despite her young age. She said about the scene:

"Nobody my age had done that before. It was needed for the film. Everyone thinks they were so young they didn't realize what they were doing. But we were very aware. We both came from drama schools and when you work you take your work very seriously."

Why did Olivia Hussey sue Paramount Pictures over the film?

However, a few years later, Olivia Hussey developed a different perspective on what transpired during the filming of the infamous scene from Romeo and Juliet.

On December 30, 2022, she and Leonard Whiting sued Paramount Pictures for $500 million, alleging se*ual exploitation, se*ual harassment, and fraud in connection to the film's n*de scene. The lawsuit was only made possible as the California law temporarily suspended the statute of limitations in the wake of the Me Too movement, allowing older claims of child se*ual abuse to be tried in court.

In their court filing, the actors stated that they were tricked into exposing their na*ed bodies by the film's director. They claimed that Zeffirelli had assured them they would be wearing flesh-colored undergarments and the scene would be shot without featuring any kind of nu*ity.

Since the actors were underage at the time of filming, the scene stood in violation of California state and federal laws that prohibit indecency and the exploitation of children. However, the case was dismissed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on May 25, 2023, in part, due to procedural errors.

Olivia Hussey passed away on December 27, 2024, from cancer at the age of 73.

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