Last Tango director says Maria knew about rape scene

Rome: Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci is clarifying details about the infamous butter rape scene in 'Last Tango in Paris.'

Bertolucci says the only novelty sprung on actress Maria Schneider was the butter - not the simulated rape, which he said was written into the script.

A Bertolucci statement carried by the ANSA news agency said that "some people thought, and think, that Maria wasn't informed about the rape. False! Maria knew everything because she had read it in the script, where it was described. The only novelty was the idea of the butter."

The controversial film made headlines in recent days after a 2013 interview surfaced in which Bertolucci said neither he nor Marlon Brando had told Schneider of their plans to use the stick of butter during the scene.