There is no doubt that actress Shelley Duvall gave her best while working on director Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 film, The Shining. As years passed, much was revealed about the harsh conditions on the sets and how Kubrick mistreated Duvall while filming the movie.
Her performance as Wendy Torrance was widely praised and made her a worldwide sensation, however, only Duvall remembers how tough it was, especially when she had to shoot the staircase scene 127 times. All this and Kubrick’s cruelty almost forced Duvall to retire from acting for good. The actress, who is now 74, recently returned to Hollywood after her 20-year-long hiatus from acting.
Shelley Duvall talked about her iconic staircase scene in The Shining (1980) that took 127 takes
1980’s The Shining is often labeled as one of the most iconic films in the history of Hollywood. Starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, and Danny Lloyd, the film was based on Stephen King’s 1977 novel of the same name.
There is an iconic scene in the movie where Duvall’s character, Wendy Torrance, armed with the baseball bat, walks backward up the stairs. That scene is one of the most reshot scenes in the history of cinema with 127 takes. In a past interview (via FilmTalking), Duvall talked about the experience,
“I had never done more than say, fifteen takes before in my life. So, it was a great change for me to do so many. After you do a certain number, it sort of goes dead, and then five more takes or so, it revives itself, and by then you know the scene like the back of your hand and you can make no mistakes with it and you forget all reality other than what you’re doing.”
In the past, Duvall has also compared shooting that scene to 1993’s Groundhog Day. In the movie, Phil Connors (Bill Murray) gets trapped in a time loop, forcing him to relive the same day over and over again.
Shelley Duvall almost quit acting because of Stanley Kubrick
Multiple people from the crew have confirmed over the years that the director of the movie, Stanley Kubrick, was quite harsh on Shelley Duvall. Despite constant discouragement, Duvall took it positively and focused on her scenes. In fact, Duvall’s crying in pain, fear, and exhaustion in the movie wasn’t acting, it was her actual response to the situation. The actress almost quit acting because of Kubrick’s behavior.
Apart from The Shining, Duvall showcased her talent in many iconic movies like 3 Women (1977), Popeye (1980) and Roxanne (1987). In 2002, Duvall retired from acting after her performance in Manna from Heaven, but she returned to the big screen after 20 years with the role of Rico’s Mother in 2023’s The Forest Hills.
Watch Duvall’s iconic staircase scene in The Shining, which is available to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.
Source: FilmTalking
