Did they, or didn’t they?
Any baby boomer who saw Franco Zeffirelli’s sumptuous “Romeo & Juliet,” which opened in U.S. theaters Oct. 8, 1968, has wondered if stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting actually fell in love during the production.
Their performances as Shakespeare’s star-crossed ill-fated lovers were so passionate, audiences naturally thought they were acting out their own feelings.
“I had never been with anyone before we shot the film,” noted Hussey, author with her son Alexander Martin of the new memoir, “The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After ‘Romeo & Juliet.”’
“But Leonard and I held hands, kissed,” Hussey, 67, explained during a recent interview at a Studio City bistro. “I guess we sort of saw each other as boyfriend and girlfriend — but young. It wasn’t the way it might be today. A 15-year-old girl today is a lot more promiscuous than we were.
Any baby boomer who saw Franco Zeffirelli’s sumptuous “Romeo & Juliet,” which opened in U.S. theaters Oct. 8, 1968, has wondered if stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting actually fell in love during the production.
Their performances as Shakespeare’s star-crossed ill-fated lovers were so passionate, audiences naturally thought they were acting out their own feelings.
“I had never been with anyone before we shot the film,” noted Hussey, author with her son Alexander Martin of the new memoir, “The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After ‘Romeo & Juliet.”’
“But Leonard and I held hands, kissed,” Hussey, 67, explained during a recent interview at a Studio City bistro. “I guess we sort of saw each other as boyfriend and girlfriend — but young. It wasn’t the way it might be today. A 15-year-old girl today is a lot more promiscuous than we were.
- 10/7/2018
- by Susan King
- Variety Film + TV
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