‘Last Tango in Paris': How Modern Actors Are Protected From Rape-Scene Abuses

Bernardo Bertolucci’s comments about a 1972 rape scene in his film “Last Tango in Paris” brought outrage over the weekend about his mistreatment of actress Maria Schneider — but also assurances from the Screen Actors Guild that actors are better protected today.

Bertolucci and Brando were widely condemned over the weekend after a YouTube user posted a 2013 interview in which the director admitted he and Brando did not tell in her in advance that butter would be part of the sequence.

[...] according to the nudity provisions in the actors union’s basic collective bargaining agreement (which appear below), performers are to be notified of “any nudity or sex acts prior to the first interview or audition.”

The union said it receives a call “once every two or three months” about questionable scenes — usually from an actor’s agent, and almost always before the scene has been filmed.

[...] Read: 'Last Tango in Paris' Director Calls Rape Outcry 'Ridiculous Misunderstanding'

Schneider told the Daily Mail in 2007 that as an inexperienced, 19-year-old actress, she didn’t know her rights.

In 2013, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” lead actress Léa Seydoux reported feeling coerced by director Abdellatif Kechiche into spending 10 days shooting an intense 10-minute lesbian sex scene for the film, which won the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or.

While SAG-AFTRA is a global organization, “Blue Is the Warmest Color” was not filmed in conjunction with the actors union, so SAG-AFTRA’s guidelines did not apply.

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