Olivia Hussey: The Girl on the Balcony

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.8 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 22 January 2019

⏱️ 34 minutes

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Summary

Olivia Hussey was just fifteen when she was cast in Franco Zeffirelli’s "Romeo and Juliet." When the film was released in October 1968, it catapulted Hussey and her Romeo, Leonard Whiting, to global stardom. Fifty years after the movie’s release, Hussey’s new memoir, "The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After 'Romeo and Juliet,'" tells the story of the actress’s life before, during, and after Romeo and Juliet. We talked with Hussey and asked her how she felt about Shakespeare before making the movie (“very boring”), filming the balcony scene (“I’d bump my teeth into his chin”), the endless press tour, and whether she’d do it all again. Olivia Hussey is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast series. Published January 22, 2019. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “Speak Again, Bright Angel” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the Associate Producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster. Ben Lauer is the web producer. We had technical help from Andrew Feliciano and Paul Luke at VoiceTrax West in Studio City, California.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's remarkable how iconic just four musical notes can be.
0:05.0	Say, if you're a classical music fan,
0:08.0	or if you're a football fan,
0:12.0	or if you're a Shakespeare fan.
0:20.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:24.6	I'm Michael Whitmore, the folder's director.
0:28.6	Those four notes are, of course, from the theme to Franco Zephyrelli's 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet.
0:42.7	The film, which is considered the Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare fans of a certain age,
0:49.2	starred 17-year-old Leonard Whiting as Romeo and 16 16-year-old sensation, Olivia Hussie, as Juliet.
0:58.5	For the 50th anniversary of the film's release, Olivia Hussie, along with her son, Alexander
1:04.5	Martin, published The Girl on the B balcony. Olivia Hussie finds life after Romeo and Juliet. We took the opportunity to invite
1:13.9	Miss Hussie into the studio to talk about the film that changed her life. We call this podcast,
1:20.8	Speak Again, Bright Angel. Olivia Hussie is interviewed by Barbara Bogueave.
1:30.3	So when you went to this audition for Romeo and Juliet, how well did you even know the play?
1:36.4	Oh, I knew it because I started at a drama school in England.
1:40.3	And one of the prerequisites was our Shakespeare class, you know, which I always found very boring, honestly, those big monologues and very hard on me.
1:49.2	And we did Romeo and Juliet for a while, and I was cast as Romeo because I had a very deep voice.
1:55.7	I smoked a lot back then.
1:56.9	Even though I was young, everybody smoked all the grown-ups, so I thought it was cool.
2:02.3	But you didn't take to it. What didn't you like?
2:05.0	I just found it very long and very, I didn't really understand it. You know, I came from Argentina. I'm half English, half Argentinian.
2:12.5	Right. So Shakespeare, not your cup of tea. But you already had a lot of experience as an actor at the time
	...

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