MARIA SCHNEIDER, costar, Last Tango in Paris (1973)

I was working [for] 10 days with Jean-Pierre Leaud, and Marlon came. We shot the movie in chronology, so it was the beginning under the bridge. He came to me and the first thing he asked me was, “What sign are you?” And I said, “Aries,” and he said, “Me too,” and he said, “What sign rising?” and I said, “Libra,” and he said, “Me too.” He said, “We're gonna get along.” And he kissed me.

I learned half of what I know how to do as an actress watching him. He was very protective of me during the movie, very, very generous.

Even with the love scenes Marlon was very shy. We shot with a little crew, only the cameraman and the director, and nobody was allowed on the set. It was very spontaneous. I was 19. So many things in that movie I couldn't understand until years after.

BERNARDO BERTOLUCCI, director, Last Tango in Paris (1973)

I couldn't have Jean-Louis Trintignant who was in the movie I just finished [ The Conformist ], because he told me in tears he couldn't be naked on film. Then I tried Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon. Belmondo said it was a porn script. Delon wanted to be the producer. I didn't find that possible, to have an actor also producing the film, because of the character of the film. So I was desperate and finally somebody, I don't remember who, came up with Marlon's name. He came to Paris to the Hotel Raphael. My English was really bad and in two minutes I told him the story of the film and saw he was smiling, looking down. I said, “Why don't you look at my eyes, why do you smile?” And he said, “Because I want to see when you will stop nervously moving your foot.” And then he said, “Let's have lunch.” After lunch he asked to see The Conformist . Then after The Conformist he said, “When do you want to start?” Then he said, “Before we shoot I want you to come two or three weeks to LA because I want to talk with you about the film.” So that was my first time in LA. I was going to see him everyday at his house on Mulholland Drive . I remember we talked about everything including the destiny of man, but we never mentioned the film. Which to me was a great sign because it meant he was free to have a different experience.

I know we played little jokes and he loved it—like, Maria [Schneider] was offscreen giving him lines and she put on her forehead his lines.

The idea for the butter came very early in the morning, like quarter to eight, and we are having a cappuccino and baguette with butter. He said, “Look,” and he began touching the butter. And it came like that. I love the idea that butter is so normal in daily life.

[After making Last Tango ] he told me, “I never suffered so much. I don't particularly want to do another film like this.” He didn't speak to me for 10 or 12 years. Two years later I was in Los Angeles casting 1900 and I called him and he was pretending he wasn't there. Then a great friend of his, a Chinese lady, calls me and says, “Marlon doesn't want to speak to you but if you agree to direct his movie about red Indians he'll see you in 15 minutes.” I said, “I am doing 1900 .” Ten years later, we talked hours and hours on the phone. Then a few years ago I said, “I am in LA, why in the hell don't you want to see me?” He said, “I want to see you.” I said, “When?” “Now.” It was 1 p.m. and I jumped in my car and I thought I was going to crash because I was so emotional. Finally I got to the gate of Jack Nicholson, you entered the same gate and then to get to Marlon you drove up to the top. It looked absolutely the same as the last time I was there. There was no one there and I sat in my car waiting. Then I saw this tree had a little belly. He was behind the tree hiding, but I saw his belly laughing. We sat down in his living room. It was exactly the same and he said, “No, there's something new,” and he showed me a little Buddha statue in the fireplace. And we talked and talked and talked. Then it came night and we continued to talk.