“The Blue Lagoon” actor Christopher Atkins has come up with some new secrets about the filming of the film. He reported that the director Randal Kleiser tried to force a romance between Brooke Shields and him to make their onscreen relationship more believable.
Christopher Atkins recalls how The Blue Lagoon director tried to encourage a romance with Brooke Shields
According to Page Six, Atkins appeared on the “Media Path” podcast and spilt some insider news around the filming of “The Blue Lagoon”. The actor confessed that the director wanted Atkins and co-star Brooke Shields to engage in a real-life romance so that it appeared more natural on the screen.
The hints were more than casual. Atkins revealed that the director had planted a picture of Shields in his bunker, “so I would look at her every night before I went to sleep so I would fall in love, so it would show up on film.”
Atkins affirmed that he and Shields had “a little romance and everything,” on the island, which was “very innocent and sweet.” Atkins also said that he “was very protective” about his costar who also worked as his mentor in the film. He said, “I didn’t know one thing about making a movie. So she really helped me out on a lot of that,” he added. “I was learning as I was going.” Whether Kleiser was pleased with the casual relationship or wanted to push the teenagers further is not known.
Shields has also previously spoken about the filming experience in the “Now What?” podcast in 2022. She said, “They wanted us so desperately to fall in love with each other,” adding, “I did not react well being forced into feeling anything. I hadn’t even kissed anybody by that age.”
Released in 1980, “The Blue Lagoon” became a commercial success and launched both actors to international fame. However, the film has remained controversial over its intimate scenes involving its teenage stars.
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Originally reported by Sreemanti Sengupta for Reality Tea
