Shields won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, but that’s largely because she was famous for starring in a commercial for jeans. With a budget of $4.5 million dollars, The Blue Lagoon grossed nearly $60 million dollars in the US to become the ninth highest earner of 1980. So naturally, it was a big hit at the box office. Somehow the movie manages to be both too dirty and too romanticized. I was always trying to get into a mood while she would be skipping off to joke with the crew.”Ĭritics panned The Blue Lagoon for being, well, gross. But two weeks into filming, the romance had ended. Initially, Shields and Atkins were infatuated with one another. Naturally, by the time she arrived he was in love with her.” “I wanted him to look at her every night before he went to sleep. Before Shields arrived in Fiji, Kleiser taped a photo of Shields over her costar’s bunk. Writer-director Randal Kleiser (hot off of Grease) attempted to spark chemistry between his two young leads. This included male full frontal nudity which is rare now and was even less common in 1980. Since Shields was only 14 years old, she had a stand-in for her nude scenes. The kids grow up to be Atkins and Shields and things get R-rated. Both tell the story of a couple of young kids (cousins) who are stranded on a desert island and grow up without parental guidance. The movie was based on the 1908 novel by Henry De Vere Stacpoole. The Blue Lagoon would play into that obsession in a big way. In 1980, Americans were obsessed with sexualizing the teenaged Shields. In an infamous ad for Calvin Klein jeans, an underage Shields delivered the line “You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” By the time she was cast in The Blue Lagoon, Shields was one of the most recognizable models in the world. At the age of 12, Shields played a child prostitute in the controversial movie, Pretty Baby. She began her modeling career as an infant. While Atkins was a complete novice, Shields was an old pro. His costar was model-turned actress, Brooke Shields. Upon starting his acting career, he decided to drop his father’s surname in favor of his middle name. The Blue LagoonĪt the age of 18, Atkins beat out over 2000 other contenders for the male lead in the romantic drama, The Blue Lagoon. They had to throw water to revive me.”īefore his move career started, Atkins modeled for Macy’s, Good Housekeeping and Gloria Vanderbilt jeans. “Then that night my stepfather announced I had an interview for a lead in a new film. ![]() “I came home on cloud nine,” Atkins recalled. He followed that sage advice and visited the Ford model agency. Instead, he caught the eye of a photographer who recommended Atkins get into modeling. That summer, he worked as a sailing instructor to save up money for school. After school, he planned to enroll in college at Denison University in Ohio. After several operations left Atkins with a seven-inch scar on his knee, he was forced into early retirement.Ītkins was born and raised in Rye, New York. Unfortunately, he suffered from a knee disorder called chondromalacia. Growing up, Christopher Atkins Bomann dreamed of playing baseball. His movie career ended abruptly, but Atkins has never stopped acting. As such, he was never taken very seriously as an actor. In 1980, actor Christopher Atkins was nominated for a Golden Globe as New Star of the Year for his performance in the pervy hit drama, The Blue Lagoon.
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