“The Blue Lagoon” director Randal Kleiser meddled in Brooke Shields’ love life on the set of the 1980 film, according to her co-star Christopher Atkins.
Atkins alleged on the “Media Path” podcast last week that Kleiser tried to force the two actors to date so that their onscreen relationship would look more believable.
“We kind of had a little romance in the beginning,” Atkins, now 65, shared. “And the director wanted us to have romance so it would show up on film.”
Atkins, who was 18 and living on a ship during filming, claimed Kleiser, now 79, went to great lengths to get him to fall for then-15-year-old Shields.
“He had put a picture of Brooke over my bunk on the boat 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 revealed.
“And yeah, we did have a little romance and everything on the island, but it was very innocent and sweet.”
Atkins also said he “was very protective” of Shields, now 61, who acted as his mentor during filming.
“I didn’t know one thing about making a movie. So she really helped me out on a lot of that,” he explained. “I was learning as I was going.”
Atkins added of Shields, “She was great. I can’t say enough good things about her.”
Page Six has reached out to Shields and Kleiser’s reps for comment.
In “The Blue Lagoon,” Shields and Atkins play a pair who fall in love and have a child together after being shipwrecked on a tropical island in the South Pacific.
Shields spoke out against the forced off-camera relationship when she had Atkins on her “Now What?” podcast in 2022.
“They wanted us so desperately to fall in love with each other,” the supermodel recalled. “I did not react well being forced into feeling anything. I hadn’t even kissed anybody by that age.”
Shields also said she didn’t enjoy the nude scenes with Atkins.
“I was like, ‘Oh God, why do I have to look at this?’” Shields said. “‘I’ve never seen one of those before, and I’m not going to start now!’”
Atkins noted his “butt naked” scenes were “awkward” for Shields.
“After that movie it was hard to keep my clothes on,” he quipped.
