"Romeo and Juliette" movie director Franco Zeffirelli, left, with actors Olivia Hussey, centre, and Leonard Whiting. AP

Romeo & Juliet' stars sue Paramount for more than $500m over 1968 film's bedroom scene shot when they were teenagers

Romeo and Juliet stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting have filed a lawsuit against Paramount, accusing the production company of sexual harassment, fraud, sexual abuse, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Hussey and Whiting starred in the 1968’s feature film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

The lawsuit, verified by People, stems from a scene in the movie that showcases nude images of both actors, which were filmed when Hussey and Whiting were allegedly minors.

Whiting and Hussey arrive at the screening of "The Producers" at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on April 26, 2018. AP

The complaint alleges that late director Franco Zeffirelli told the lead actors that the film wouldn’t include nudity, but ended up turning on his word.

“What they were told and what went on were two different things,” Tony Marinozzi, a business manager for the actors, told Variety in a statement on Tuesday (3 January). “They trusted Franco. At 16, as actors, they took his lead that he would not violate that trust they had.

“Franco was their friend, and frankly, at 16, what do they do?” Marinozzi added in a statement to the outlet. “There are no options. There was no #MeToo.”

Hussey and Whiting’s attorney Solomon Gresen added: “[The actors] were very young naive children in the sixties who had no understanding of what was about to hit them.

“All of a sudden they were famous at a level they never expected, and in addition they were violated in a way they didn’t know how to deal with.”