Β«Π‘ΠΈΡΠ½ΠΈΠ΅Β» directed by American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, was released in May 1980. It is a horror film based on the book by Stephen King of the same name. The wife of the film’s main character, a housewife named Wendy, was played by Shelley Duvall, a successful and in-demand American actress at the time of filming. Prior to “The Shining,” Duvall had worked with renowned directors such as Robert Altman and Woody Allen. However, due to her work with Stanley Kubrick, the actress almost lost her sanity, which greatly affected her subsequent career.
In cinema circles, Stanley Kubrick had a reputation as a neurotic perfectionist. “The Shining” even made it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the project with the most retakes of a single scene – there were 148. Shelley Duvall could not escape the director’s strict demands. The scene in which Wendy confronts her deranged husband with a baseball bat was shot only 127 times. Due to several hours of continuous holding of the bat and crying, the actress’s hands were torn and bloodied, her voice hoarse, and her eyes swollen from tears. On that day of filming, Duvall left the set completely exhausted and dehydrated. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress revealed that to maintain the constant heightened emotional state required by her role, she listened to sad music and recalled sad moments from her life. This helped Duvall cry more, which was necessary for the script. “But after a while your body rebels. It says, ‘Stop doing this to me. I don’t want to cry every day.’ And sometimes just that thought made me cry,” the actress described her experience.
In the most famous scene of “The Shining,” the main character breaks down the door with an ax to reach his wife. In order to make Duvall show real fear, Kubrick did not tell her that the door would be broken down by an ax. In the shots that made it into the final version of the film, the actress is not acting, but truly terrified by what is happening.
In the documentary film “Making of The Shining,” Vivian Kubrick shows Shelley Duvall lying on the floor surrounded by pillows. These were shots of the aftermath of a panic attack that occurred during filming. Duvall confirmed what happened in an interview with Comingsoon.net. She said that a typical day on set lasted 15-16 hours, and the lack of rest made her feel exhausted. “I got to the point where I just couldn’t take it anymore; I needed a break, but breaks cost money, and people needed to keep filming, so I had a nervous breakdown,” the actress explained.
In 2016, 36 years after the release of the movie, Shelley Duvall visited the American talk show “Doctor Phil”. During the interview, it became evident that her mental health had significantly deteriorated. The actress spoke incoherently and produced an inadequate impression. When asked about her health, she replied, “If I say I’m healthy, the first thing they’ll do is hurt me tonight.” When asked who she was talking about, Duvall replied, “Whoever was in security… or in a bank… working night shifts… Sheriff Nottingham hunted me down, and a spinning disk was implanted in my knee.” She also remembered her colleague from the movie “Popeye,” Robin Williams, who passed away in 2014. Duvall insisted that Williams was alive and simply “constantly changing his appearance.”
In the same interview, Shelley Duvall stated that it was the most challenging role she has ever played, and the shooting process left a strong impression on her life. After the interview aired, “The Actors Fund,” a charitable organization concerned about the actress’s condition, offered Duvall financial assistance for treatment.
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