Bruce and Franco

The death of Italian film maker Franco Zeffielli herald many tributes to him but there are those who think less of him. At a screening of his cult film Whitnall and I writer-director Bruce Robinson related how an incident involving Zeffielli inspired one of the most famous scene in the 1987 film about 2 out of work actors. In his days as an actor Robinson was cast in the famed 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet directed by Zeffrielli. At their first meeting during filming Robinson found the director in a room surrounded by other and was told by him to take a shower. After taking the shower Robinson found it was just him and Zeffrielli. Bruce used this experience for the where Paul McGann's I is sexually propositioned by the character of Uncle Monty played by Richard Griffiths.

You can see Bruce Robinson talking about this on Youtube.