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Fourteen-year-old Hailee Steinfeld might bare all in "Romeo and Juliet" remake
By Jessica GentileJune 7th, 2011, 12:00 amComments (22)
Fourteen-year-old Hailee Steinfeld may have displayed some fierce acting chops in last year's True Grit, but she might be displaying a lot more in an upcoming adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Writer Julian Fellowes has been adamant in his desire to make an age-appropriate version of the Shakespearean classic, which of course features two of literature's horniest, star-crossed teenagers. It's cool that he's casting someone who's actually around Juliet's age as written. I just hope it's not exploitive.
According to a provocative excerpt from the script published in the Daily Mail:
"They (Romeo and Juliet) start undressing each other — slowly, gently and carefully until they are naked.
"They are eternal figures in a Raphael painting. Romeo then carries her to bed, kissing her again and again as they explore uncharted territory. Then they make love, transported into each other's soul."
There's no telling just how this will be interpreted on screen. Hopefully a few tasteful or suggestive shots will win out over simulated child porn. Fellowes maintains that, "Juliet is at that stage of... what you might call a child/woman. Just like Hailee herself is. My version is a romantic story — one that keeps pretty true to Shakespeare but is, I hope, more accessible." While Romeo has yet to be cast, it'll be interesting to see just how "accessible" underage sex will be to mainstream audiences come the film's release.
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Hailee Steinfeld
Commentarium (22 Comments)
Bullshit way to try to spice up a rote Oscar magnet.
Olivia Hussey was only 15 when she filmed her part as Juliet in Franco Zifferelli's "Romeo & Juliet" in which she appeared topless. But that was the late 60s.
And they didn't let her into the premiere because she wasn't of age.
PR at its best... will never make it to the screen...
The Daily Mail is a reliable source for this kind of thing.
Oh absolutely. The newspaper that daily convinces my mother-in-law that she is about to be mugged by illegal immigrants. Totally reliable.
I salute this director's artistic choice. Also, I will invite Hailee Steinfeld to Switzerland for Roofies and Rum.
Subtle! And I recall, it was champagne.
Brilliant, RP. And right-on.
In the meantime, will we get a full-frontal of the male lead? EVER? In my lifetime... Sigh. All we get is Wiener bulges. And then tears. Yucky manipulative tears.
And how, no matter how tasteful, is this not child porn? They may be able to make this film as described, but it won't be legal for anyone to look at it.
The line between art and porn may be sticky sometimes (hurr hurr hurr), but just because there's a naked body doesn't make it pornographic.
It doesn't matter if it is art......it is illegal to look at pictures of underage girls, and probably boys. I'm an adult male; we get busted for looking at DRAWINGS of underage girls. It just doesn't matter how tasteful it is, or if you think that isn't right or is long overdue, it's just the way it is.
Actually, they never managed to have sex in the play itself. For them to consummate the relationship would be an artistic liberty which is highly suspicious given the demanded ages of the actors...
Pedobear would approve.
Really? I thought they did, after Romeo kills Tybalt.
They absolutely do, there's an entire lengthy scene about it. Have you ever actually seen R&J on stage?
A 14 year old getting nekkid? Not likely. That's why there are body doubles.
Do we really need another remake?
Ugh, not another Romeo And Juliet remake. I'm gonna have to skip seeing this.
Agreed. It's one of Shakespeare's weakest plays, relying on everyone acting like an idiot to move the plot along to its forced conclusion. Marketing it at "oooh, look, underage titties," just moves it from the pointless to the disgusting.
Brooke Shields was 12 when she filmed "Pretty Baby"
It's actually not illegal to film minors in the nude as long as they have parental consent.
The one from the 60's was fine. Does not need remaking. And as for Leo and Claire Danes I found Romeo + Juliet to be so terrible I hate everything to do with them. There was an anime version that featured a hilarious drunken Shakespeare though.