More than 40 years after the premiere of the controversial film that launched them to stardom, the actors recalled some of the best and worst moments of filming
Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins were barely teenagers when they established themselves as the protagonists of one of the most-watched films of 1980. The Blue Lagoon meant a before and after in their careers, but more than 40 years after its premiere, the actors revealed the best-kept behind-the-scenes secrets and agreed that currently, a film of these characteristics could not be filmed.
“It would not be allowed… Some animals suffered during the filming. We speared fish and did all kinds of crazy things. Two N- children were running down a beach," Atkins said. “I would grab a baby and put it under the water! We were like in the Wild West, but everything happened in the water, "said the actress in dialogue with her co-star, on her podcast Now What? and he not only agreed but added many other questionable situations that occurred inside and outside the set.
The Blue Lagoon didn't get the best reviews, but the multiple N- and S- scenes surely helped make it a hit. At the time, Shields was just 14 years old and one of the most famous advertising models in the United States. Atkins was 18 and had all the characteristics expected of a "swagger" at the time.
Directed by Randall Keizer, after the successful Grease, the film was set in the Victorian era and told the story of Emmeline and Richard, two cousins who are shipwrecked and must survive on a tropical island in the South Pacific as children. Everything changes when they reach adolescence and begin to experience bodily and emotional changes. Of course, young people end up falling in love and conceiving a child.
Shields recalled that to increase the chemistry between them, the film's producers insisted that they have to have a real-life romance. “And they desperately wanted us to fall in love with each other. And that was impossible, because four years, at that age, is a world of difference”, explained the actress.
"It also caught my attention, because I remember thinking, 'Let's get to know each other first instead of trying to fall in love and force the issue,'" Shields recalled. “And I didn't react well when I was forced to feel something. I wanted to be left alone for a bit." And she added: "I hadn't even kissed anyone at that age."
However, it was a piece of information provided by Atkins that made the situation even more controversial: Shields' mother, Teri, who was also her agent, was the one who insisted the most on the need for them to live a romance in real life. According to the actor, the woman, with whom Shields had always had a strained relationship, invited him to live in her house for a few days before filming began so that they could "get to know each other more deeply" before filming began.
“She basically wanted you to get off the horses and get into the boys,” she told Brooke, who looked noticeably surprised. “For the sake of the film, she wanted us to be closer together and closer to each other, either as brothers or as the leads in a love story,” the actor insisted.
And he continued: "I felt that she was pressuring me to give the second option, but at the same time, you were 14 years old... I felt trapped between a rock and a hard place!" Shields then indicated that this was a "crazy position."
For Atkins, the fact that they didn't finally give in to the pressure to feel something with each other was a determining factor in achieving the chemistry that was seen on screen. “It was probably great for the movie because that's what it was about. You have to admit that the chemistry between us was incredible. There were a lot of great, great moments that happened there, and I think it was a lot of that innocence that came out in the movie that made it work even more,” he expressed.
Of course, the issue of N- was also addressed by the actors. “I felt very ashamed. There were scenes where I was with you totally N-, sliding down a slide, and things like that. It was a little, but it was also fun for me because at the time I was just going to do it," Atkins said. “After that movie, I had a really hard time keeping my clothes on,” he joked.
Shields, in turn, said that, unlike Atkins, she had a body double for the S- scenes and had made it clear that she would not show her breasts. “We were wearing little strips of clothing, and my hair was glued to my body to cover my breasts, which were minimal anyway,” Shields recalled. “I don't know what he was trying to cover. Do you remember the pads? They would put these little flesh-colored things on my nipples because, obviously, the nipples were the ones that drew the limit of what you could see, ”she also joked.
But the N- of the protagonists began even before the cameras were turned on. Atkins recalled that he and Shields were instructed to tan in the N- before filming to avoid tan marks. But going without clothes for so long had its drawbacks: they suffered from insect bites and were injured by crabs, rats, and horses. “I was irritated to infinity,” Atkins revealed.
However, half-jokingly and half-seriously, he recalled: “We had a doctor on set, who had a little parrot. And he smoked pot all the time." The memory aroused the complicit laughter of his colleague. And then she added: “Do you remember that I had pneumonia? In the scene where she was giving birth, she couldn't control her breathing. I was coughing and coughing and everyone was like, 'What a great performance!'”
