The Shining/Trivia

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• Classic Movie, Commercial Sequel: Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad recreated Jack Nicholson's infamous turn in The Shining for a 2020 Mountain Dew commercial.
• The Danza: Jack Torrance is Jack Nicholson. And Danny Torrance is played by Danny Lloyd.
• Disowned Adaptation: Stephen King had problems with the movie, feeling that his novel's important themes, such as the disintegration of the family and the dangers of alcoholism, were ignored. He was also opposed to the casting of Jack Nicholson.
• Enforced Method Acting: Kubrick would loudly berate Shelley Duvall (Wendy) whenever the slightest thing went wrong, in order to make her feel as distressed as the character. Jack Nicholson realized this, but resisted the urge to just give her a hug - which probably helped her freak out effectively when Jack came after her with an axe.
  • Scatman Crothers was allegedly reduced to tears because of Kubrick's insistence on getting absolutely perfect takes - it's debatable whether to chalk this up to this trope or Kubrick simply being a Prima Donna Director.
• Hey, It's That Guy!: Dr. Eldon Tyrell is Lloyd the Bartender.
• Hey, It's That Voice!: Danny was Gus Griswald in the miniseries (Which marks the second time a voice actor from Recess was in a Stephen King miniseries).
• Throw It In: In one scene, Jack Nicholson yells "Here's Johnny!" while poking his head through a door, and Stanley Kubrick, after having the joke explained to him (he'd been living in England since before Carson started hosting The Tonight Show), decided it worked.
  • Made slightly more alarming by the fact that Jack Nicholson had been a volunteer fire marshal at one point and tore down the door far too easily the first time, thus causing them to have to build a stronger one.
• What Could Have Been: Kubrick had considered Robert De Niro and Robin Williams for the role of Jack Torrance. DeNiro, fresh off of Taxi Driver, was deemed "not psychotic enough." Williams, whose biggest role to-date was Mork and Mindy was deemed "TOO psychotic."
  • King reportedly wanted Harrison Ford for the role of Jack.
  • Nicholson supposedly recommended Jessica Lange for the part of Wendy.
  • Stephen King wrote the first screenplay before Kubrick hired Diane Johnson.
• Write What You Know: King has admitted that the novel came about because of his own alcoholism and concerns about his own parenting.

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