Inside Shelley Duvall’s Tumultuous Experience Filming ‘The Shining’

The late Shelley Duvall is mostly remembered by fans for playing Wendy Torrance in director Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Her recent passing just days after turning 75 has brought back conversations about her life and career, especially her most daunting role in the ‘80s hit movie.

Duvall recalled feeling constantly terrified while playing Wendy in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s haunted-house novel of the same title. Although Stanley was nice and sweet to Duvall, working with him meant seeing a borderline abusive side of him in a bid to depict the story as real-looking as possible.

Shelley Duvall had no regrets about working with Stanley Kubrick

Despite her gut-wrenching experience, Duvall said it taught her great lessons that she came to cherish throughout her career. In her words, working with Stanley made her smarter, even though it was “hell” during filming.

Duvall’s co-star, Jack Nicholson, was at the time dating Anjelica Huston, who revealed that Stanley did not really care for Duvall’s feelings about her role, despite the actress being visibly affected. She added that Duvall looked tortured in general and this gave her much concern.

Duvall suffered mental health issues after ‘The Shining’

The documentary Kubrick: A Life in Pictures revealed how Stanley would mistreat Duvall, talking her down on set and being hard on her when she made mistakes. Even Jack admitted that Duvall had “the hardest time” he has ever seen as an actor, especially during the staircase scene, in which Stanley had her retake 127 times.

Stanley allegedly isolated Duvall, making her spiral even more and causing her mental trauma. The late actress’ trauma was exploited by popular show host Dr. Phil, who received backlash from the public and Stanley’s daughter, Vivian Kubrick. Dr. Phil claimed that he intended to share useful information with viewers; however, Duvall herself condemned his actions in retrospect.