An Oscar-nominated filmmaker and a slew of Hollywood stars said they were sickened by “Last Tango in Paris” director Bernardo Bertolucci’s admission that the rape scene in his sexually-charged 1972 drama was filmed without actress Maria Schneider’s consent.
“Selma” director Ava DuVernay was among those condemning the shocking decision made by Bertolucci, who revealed in a recently surfaced 2013 videotaped interview that he and actor Marlon Brando never informed Schneider her character would be raped by Brando using a stick of butter as a lubricant.
“Inexcusable. As a director, I can barely fathom this. As a woman, I am horrified, disgusted and enraged by it,” DuVernay tweeted shortly after the bombshell interview went viral.
Others within the industry also took to social media to express their outrage, including “Westworld” star Evan Rachel Wood, who last week said she’d been raped twice and no longer wanted to stay silent about it.
“This is heartbreaking and outrageous,” Wood tweeted. “The 2 of them are very sick individuals to think that was ok.”
Wood’s tweet came in response to fellow film star Jessica Chastain, who tried to put things into context after watching Bertolucci’s stunning revelation.
“To all the people that love this film — you’re watching a 19yr old get raped by a 48yr old man. The director planned her attack. I feel sick,” she wrote.
Chris Evans, who stars as Captain America in the Marvel superhero movies, called the admission “beyond disgusting” and said he felt “rage” after learning of it.
Bertolucci’s interview took place three years ago at the Paris film organization La Cinématheque Francaise, where he recounted how he opted not to tell Schneider what he planned to film in hopes of making her acting feel authentic.
“I didn’t want Maria to act her humiliation, her rage; I wanted Maria to feel…the rage and humiliation,” Bertolucci said.
“Then she hated me for all of her life.”
Schneider, who died in 2011 of cancer, had already gone public about the harrowing scene in a 2007 interview with the Daily Mail — saying it made her feel like she’d actually been raped by both men.
“That scene wasn’t in the original script,” she told the paper. “They only told me about it before we had to film the scene and I was so angry. I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can’t force someone to do something that isn’t in the script. But at the time, I didn’t know that.
“I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci,” Schneider said.
