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'Last Tango In Paris' Butter Rape Scene Was Not Consensual: Director Bertolucci

Bernardo Bertolucci said he didn't tell the film's actress, Maria Schneider, about the scene.

Maria Schneider, the late actress who starred in "Last Tango In Paris," did not know about or consent to the film's infamous "butter rape" scene, the film's director said.

In a 2013 interview that resurfaced recently on YouTube, Bernardo Bertolucci revealed details of the scene were conceived by him and lead actor Marlon Brando on the morning of the shoot. But Schneider was unaware the scene would involve the use of butter as a lubricant, he said.

"I didn't tell her what was going on," Bertolucci said, "because I wanted her reaction as a girl, not as an actress."

Schneider was 19 at the time; Brando was 48.

Schneider told the Daily Mail in 2007 she only found out about the scene right before the shoot, because it wasn't in the original script.

"Marlon said to me: 'Maria, don't worry, it's just a movie,' but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn't real, I was crying real tears.

"I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didn't console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take."

Watch the clip above to learn more about the non-consensual scene and Hollywood's reaction to Bertolucci's admission.

Schneider died in 2011 at the age of 58. In the years following the film's release, she spoke of her regret about starring in it, and the negative effects it had on her well-being and her career.

Watch Bertolucci's interview below:

The director had also spoken of the scene in other interviews. He told the Telegraph in 2013: “No, I don’t feel guilty, but when she died I thought, God, I’m so sorry that I can’t apologize for what Marlon and I did with that scene and we decided not to tell her."

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