Featured Image Credit: Columbia Pictures
Topics: TV And Film, Brooke Shields
Daisy Phillipson
Brooke Shields has opened up about some of the uncomfortable things she says she was asked to do for The Blue Lagoon.
Directed by Randal Kleiser and written by Douglas Day Stewart, The Blue Lagoon tells the story of a girl and a boy who are marooned on a tropical island paradise in the South Pacific.
They attempt to survive without adult supervision, but when they hit puberty they start to fall for each other.
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Shields was just 14 years old when she appeared in the film, while her co-star Christopher Atkins was 18, which is shocking when you consider how much nudity there is.
Since Atkins was technically an adult, he performed his own nude scenes while Shields had a body double or she had hair glued to her chest.
The film industry is a very different place now, and Shields alongside many others are well aware that a movie featuring underage nudity would not fly today.
The now 57-year-old opened up about the various issues surrounding The Blue Lagoon alongside Atkins in a recent episode of her Now What? podcast.
"Never again will a movie be made like that," she said. "It wouldn’t be allowed."
In agreement, Atkins responded: "Oh gosh no. Animals were hurt in the movie. We were spearing fish and all kinds of crazy things. Children are naked running down a beach, couldn't do that now."
Shields then went into detail about some of the uncomfortable things the pair were asked to do to prepare for the role.
She explained: "We were never eased into it. We got there and they instantly wanted us to be tanned.
"Remember, they set up those little thatched areas so that we could get tanned without tan lines."
Atkins added: "There were scenes where I was butt naked with you, if you remember, sliding down that slide and things like that.
"And that was a little awkward, but it was kind of funny for me because at this point in time I would just do it. But your reaction was: 'Ugh, oh god.'"
And it wasn't just the nudity that was problematic, with Atkins adding: "There were long hours and there was a lot of physical stuff in that movie.
"Climbing those coconut trees, man, I was chafed up to no end. Running over the coral and stuff, all the bug bites and coral cuts and all the other crazy things.
"The fevers and everything we had, people don't know any of that stuff - it's not easy."
Shields agreed with the physical strain that came with creating The Blue Lagoon, stating: "Any kind of cut you had and you went in the water, bits of the coral would get into the cut and it'd become completely infected and ulcerated.
"We were like the Wild West but it just happened to be on the water.
"And I remember I got pneumonia... In the birthing scene, when I'm supposed to be having the baby, I uncontrollably can't breathe and have a coughing fit and everyone's like what a great acting choice, I'm like, 'I can't breathe!'"
Considering the film only has a measly eight percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems the decision to depict underage nudity unsurprisingly didn't go down too well with audiences.