Last Tango in Paris director says Maria Schneider did not consent to 'butter rape' scene

Bernardo Bertolucci says he wanted Maria Schneider, 19, to feel humiliation 'as a girl not an actress'.

Last Tango in Paris director Bernardo Bertolucci admitted that he conspired with Marlon Brando to film the infamous 'butter rape' scene without the consent of Maria Schneider, who was 19 at the time.

Speaking in 2013, the 76-year-old director expressed "guilt… but not regret" at the decision, explaining he wanted the teenager to "feel" the "rage and humiliation" as "a girl not an actress".

The veteran director went on to explain how the idea came to light after breakfast with the then 48-year-old Brando.

"We were having, with Marlon [Brando], breakfast on the floor of the flat where I was shooting," he said.

"There was a baguette, there was butter and we looked at each other and, without saying anything, we knew what we wanted."

The film, released in 1972, tells the story of a man who enters into an anonymous affair after his wife commits suicide, and scandalised audiences at the time.

Schneider, who died in 2011, often expressed her disgust at feeling "a little bit raped" during the simulated sex scene.

"I was so angry," she told the Daily Mail before her death. "I should have called my agent or had my lawyer come to the set because you can't force someone to do something that isn't in the script, but at the time, I didn't know that."

Director Bernardo Bertolucci, speaking on the Dutch programme College Tour about filming Last Tango in Paris

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

Marlon Brando with actress Marie Schneider and Bernardo Bertolucci on set during the filming of in Bertolucci's Last Tango In Paris Getty Images

"After the scene, Marlon didn't console me or apologise. Thankfully, there was just one take," she continued.

Bertolucci said that Schneider never spoke to him again after filming due to the scene, and that the incident marred her relationship with both men.

"I think that she hated me and also Marlon because we didn't tell her that there was that detail of the butter used as a lubricant."

The newly resurfaced comments have caused outrage in Hollywood with many stars tweeting their horror at the news.

Pitch Perfect Actress Anna Kendrick said: "Ms Schneider stated this several years ago. I used to get eye-rolls when I brought it up to people (aka dudes)".

Evan Rachel Wood, star of Westworld, wrote "This is heartbreaking and outrageous. The two of them are very sick individuals to think that was okay".