The 'surprise' unscripted Last Tango in Paris rape scene with Marlon Brando that ended in tragedy for 'humiliated' actress: How Maria Schneider's life spiralled into drugs and attempted suicide before cancer death aged 58

French histrion Maria Schneider was conscionable a teen erstwhile she was forced to execute a brutal and unscripted rape country with a antheral astir 3 decades her elder - sending her beingness down a acheronian path.

At conscionable 19-years-old, Schneider starred alongside a 48-year-old Marlon Brando in Last Tango successful Paris - a film that would spell connected to spark contention and outcry from critics and viewers crossed the globe - and which led to Schneider utilizing drugs 'to cope' and voluntarily admitting herself to a psychiatric hospital.

A 1972 erotic play movie directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, Last Tango successful Paris centres astir a young Parisian pistillate who meets a middle-aged American businessman who demands their clandestine narration beryllium based lone connected sex.

But the movie which grossed a staggering $96million astatine Box Office carries with it a sordid bequest that saw a teenage Schneider having to partake successful a convulsive enactment onslaught country that was yet revealed to person been unconsensual.

The furore the graphic country generated was conscionable the opening of her tumultuous adulthood involving drugs, a stint successful an asylum and a conflict with cancer that tragically claimed her beingness astatine lone 58 years of age.

Now, a biopic connected tormented Schneider that delves into her harrowing acquisition connected the acceptable of Last Tango successful Paris, 'Being Maria', has premiered astatine Cannes, reigniting the #MeToo controversy.

MailOnline has taken a look into the beingness of the young prima who was pushed excessively far.

Last Tango successful Paris

On October 15, 1972, Schneider changeable to fame overnight, becoming the astir talked-about pistillate successful America.

After playing a pb relation successful Last Tango successful Paris, which had premiered successful New York Film Festival the erstwhile night, the movie became instantly notorious.

The erotic play was the seventh highest-grossing movie of 1973, but portion it received an archetypal affirmative captious reception, the arguable 'romance' movie was met with nationalist outrage.

It was banned from cinemas and Bertolucci was tried for obscenity successful Italy, and its earthy portrayal of rape and affectional turmoil led to planetary controversy.

This seeped into young Schneider's beingness and followed her to her tragic end.

She began moving arsenic an histrion astatine 19-years-old and, aft playing a bid of tiny roles successful a fistful of films, was poached by Bertolucci.

The manager notoriously developed the movie from his intersexual fantasies aft erstwhile 'dreaming of seeing a beauteous nameless pistillate connected the thoroughfare and having enactment with her without ever knowing who she was'.

A budding actress, Schneider jumped astatine the accidental to play the infamous quality Jeanne, but the darker truths of communicative - and what would beryllium expected of her to fulfil the relation - would soon travel to light.   

The unscripted rape scene 

Schneider played the relation of a beautiful, young, and engaged Parisian pistillate named Jeanne successful Last Tango successful Paris.

Her quality embarks connected an erotic escapade with Paul, played by Marlon Brando, who insists their narration stays purely intersexual and anonymous - to Jeanne's dismay.

The brace look respective affectional rollercoasters passim the movie, but contempt the underlying taxable of passionateness and romance, it is nary emotion story.

In a horrific scene, Schneider's quality is anally raped by Brando's quality connected a Paris flat level wherever helium notoriously utilized food arsenic a lubricant.

It was aboriginal revealed that the country was unscripted, non-consensual, and kept hidden from Schneider arsenic Bertolucci revealed successful a disturbing 2013 interview: 'I didn't privation Maria to enactment … I wanted Maria to consciousness the rage and humiliation'.

Bertolucci claimed during the 2013 interrogation that helium and Brando came up with the thought of the scene, which progressive butter.

'The series of the food is an thought that I had with Marlon successful the greeting earlier shooting it,' Bertulocci said successful the video, published connected YouTube. 

But, helium said, helium was 'horrible' to Schneider erstwhile helium didn't archer her astir his plans.

'I wanted her absorption arsenic a girl, not arsenic an actress,' helium added. 'And I deliberation that she hated maine and besides Marlon due to the fact that we didn't archer her.'

Bertolucci added that helium did not 'regret' the decision. 

Following the vulgar scene, successful 2007 - 4 years earlier her death, Schneider told the Daily Mail she felt 'a small spot raped' by Brando and Bertolucci.

'I should person called my cause oregon had my lawyer travel to the acceptable due to the fact that you can't unit idiosyncratic to bash thing that isn't successful the script,' she said.

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

Schneider said determination was nary attraction betwixt her and Brando, whom she regarded arsenic a begetter fig portion she felt similar a daughter. 

The traumatised histrion went connected to telephone Bertolucci 'fat and sweaty and precise manipulative' and revealed she had 'a atrocious feeling' earlier accepting the role.

After the movie deed the large screens, a teenage Schneider said she instantly felt arsenic if she had go a enactment symbol, admitting it 'turned maine a small crazy'.

'I did not similar … the representation afloat of innuendo, naughty, that radical had of maine after,' she said. 'People who travel up to archer you unpleasant things connected planes. I was tracked down, and I felt hounded.' 

And though Schneider ne'er did different nude country passim her career, she began 'coping' with her newfound fame by taking 'pot, past cocaine, LSD, and heroin' passim the 1970s.

Life aft Last Tango

Following the merchandise of the movie, an Italian backstage prosecution by Gino Paoli Latin, the authoritative of Bologna, was launched connected the grounds of 'obscene contented violative to nationalist decency' and 'descriptions and exhibitions of masturbation, libidinous acts and lewd nudity, accompanied off-screen by sounds, sighs and shrieks of climatic pleasure'.

It was initially unsuccessful, but successful September 1973, the appellate tribunal successful Bologna sentenced Bertolucci, Brando, and Schneider to 2 months successful situation and a good - which was aboriginal overturned successful December that year.

But though Schneider was not thrown down bars, the backlash, offence, and contention caused by movie successful Bertolucci's autochthonal location drove Schneider to utmost lengths arsenic a effect of immense stress.

She aboriginal said successful an interrogation that the contention 'made maine spell mad. I got into drugs – cookware and past cocaine, LSD and heroin – it was similar an flight from reality'.

The Hollywood prima revealed she did not bask being celebrated astatine all, starring her to effort to instrumentality her ain beingness connected respective occasions and 'only surviving because God decided it wasn't the clip for maine to go.' 

'I accidental it was similar a termination erstwhile I overdosed 2 oregon 3 times connected drugs, but each clip I woke up erstwhile the ambulance arrived,' she said. 

Schneider, who was besides openly bisexual, struggled to reclaim an 'innocent' individuality owed to however she was portrayed successful Last Tango successful Paris and her sexuality - contempt her making a constituent of rejecting immoderate roles that required nudity.

She appeared successful Michelangelo Antonioni's 1975 thriller The Passenger other Jack Nicholson, but isolated from that, escaping the acheronian shadiness of Last Tango would beryllium a situation that followed Schneider done the remainder of her beingness and career.

The histrion appeared successful 50 much films pursuing Last Tango, including The Passenger, but she remained haunted by the rape country and arsenic a result, pigeonholed arsenic a enactment awesome alternatively than a superior actress.

In 1975, 3 years aft Last Tango premiered, Schneider voluntarily committed herself to a psychiatric infirmary successful Rome truthful she could walk clip with her lover, lensman Joan Townsend.

'They locked her up, truthful I had to bash it retired of loyalty,' she told American movie professional Roger Ebert in an interrogation the aforesaid year.

Schneider aboriginal told the Daily Mail that her person was schizophrenic. 

Towards the extremity of her life, the tormented histrion recovered solace aft moving backmost to Paris aft a agelong stint successful Los Angeles.

In July 2010, Schneider was awarded France's Chevalier medal successful the Order of Arts and Letters for being 'the singular representation of today's woman'.

She continued to talk astir her harrowing ordeal, arguing that she inactive had plentifulness to accidental arsenic an older actress.

'I person things to explicit done my acting, my face, which are precise affluent and touching to the younger radical today,' she said.

'You know, 47 is not aged for a pistillate – we tin unrecorded until we're 90!'

She had go an advocator for actresses caught up successful akin situations to the 1 she was successful backmost successful the 70s - a newcomer who was exploited by almighty antheral figures.  

Later successful life, Schneider appeared astatine a movie festival that Bertolucci was besides contiguous at. 

The organisers attempted to reunite the manager and star, but she refused.

'I don't cognize that man,' she said. 

Schneider died successful Paris connected February 3, 2011, astatine the property of 58 aft a agelong conflict with cancer.     

Being Maria 

The 2024 biopic connected Schneider's horrific ordeal portion connected the acceptable of Last Tango successful Paris premiered successful May, astatine the 77th variation of the French movie festival.

Directed by Jessica Palud, who adapted the publication from a publication by Vanessa Schneider - the younger relative of Maria - Being Maria is an affectional and visceral movie that depicts however Schneider ne'er genuinely recovered from the harrowing 1972 acquisition and the turbulent beingness she led pursuing the disturbing rape scene.

Anamaria Vartolomei, a French-Romanian actress, stars arsenic Schneider, while Matt Dillon bravely takes connected the relation of Paul.

Palud tells the communicative of a young, struggling histrion who is approached by an emerging Italian manager that aboriginal casts her to header a caller movie alongside an American superstar.

'But what seems similar a large breakthrough turns retired to beryllium the commencement of a surviving hell,' the Cannes Festival wrote successful their bio of the movie connected their website.

Speaking to Variety following the biopic's premiere, Vartolomei said she wanted to honour Schneider's lust for life, and not conscionable absorption connected the dark.

'Maria was a precise affirmative figure,' Vartolomei said, adding 'she was fire, mischief, state — an electrifying presence.' 

'I person large admiration for her and her career, due to the fact that she managed to gully connected the spot she needed to marque herself heard,' Vartolomei continued.

'She wanted to assistance the veil and interruption the soundlessness connected taboo questions of unit and sexism wrong the industry. She wanted to support aboriginal generations, and that unluckily resonates with existent events.'

After carrying retired probe connected the tormented histrion earlier playing the relation of the iconic actress, Vartolomei revealed she was shocked by articles she had work from the era, and the sexism Schneider suffered.

But amazed by Schneider's resilience, she said: 'Maria ne'er flinched, ne'er compromised, ne'er reduced herself to the debased presumption she was given. 

'She carried a dependable that inactive resonates today'.