Robin Williams Was Deemed Too Psychotic For ‘The Shining’ Role By Stanley Kubrick After Watching Actor in 70s Sitcom
The Shining is one of the best horror movies to watch in the spooky season. Even after 4 decades since its release, the horror movie continues to enjoy the reputation of being one of the scariest movies ever made, thanks to Stanley Kubrick’s masterful filmmaking.
Jack Nicholson did an excellent job of playing the role of Jack Torrance in The Shining. He was Kubrick’s first choice for the role. However, other actors had also been considered for the role. One of the two actors who were considered was Robin Williams and the other one was Martin Scorsese’s long-time collaborator Robert De Niro.
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Robin Williams Was Considered For The Shining
The Shining, based on the 1977 eponymous novel by Stephen King, follows the story of an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) who wishes to mend his relationship with his wife Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall). He takes over the duties as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. However, things take a dark turn when he ignores the warning of the hotel being haunted.
Late actor Robin Williams was deemed too psychotic for the role after Kubrick saw his performance in 1976’s Mork and Mindy. Similarly, Robert De Niro was not cast as Jack Torrance because of his performance in Martin Scorsese’s 1976 movie Taxi Driver which made him look not psychotic enough. The role eventually went to Jack Nicholson whose casting was opposed by Stephen King.
Whilst Jack Nicholson was always #StanleyKubrick’s first choice for the role of Jack Torrance, Robert De Niro, Robin Williams and Harrison Ford were also considered for the part. #TheShining pic.twitter.com/dgx6nO9f33
— Stanley Kubrick (@StanleyKubrick) September 5, 2019
Being the perfectionist that the legendary director Stephen Kubrick was, it does not come as too much of a surprise that he wanted the right actors to star in the movie. He allegedly went as far as feeding Nicholson cheese sandwiches for two weeks to agitate him enough for the role.
Shelley Duvall Did Not Have The Best Experience While Filming The Shining
The casting of a movie is one of the most important parts of the production of a movie. It has often proven to be a game-changer when it comes to bringing a character to life. Both Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick understood this, and so they conflicted over the actor who would be playing the lead role. King believed that Jon Voight, Michael Moriarty, or Martin Sheen would do better than Jack Nicholson, but Kubrick got the final say.
Contrary to the fight over Nicholson’s casting, Shelley Duvall’s casting was comparatively less rivaled as the actress knew early on about it. However, her experience while working on the movie was not the best. In fact, it was especially hard for her.
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In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Duvall reflected on her time filming The Shining, saying:
“[Kubrick] doesn’t print anything until at least the 35th take. Thirty-five takes, running and crying and carrying a little boy, it gets hard. And full performance from the first rehearsal. That’s difficult.”
The actress went on to reveal that she would listen to sad songs or think about some very sad things to get herself in the right headspace for the role. Even so, after a while, her body started rebelling against all the unnatural crying she had to do.
