Twitter fan account shelleyduvallxo tackles the production legend surrounding whether director Stanley Kubrick traumatized The Shining star in an incredibly detailed thread exploring her career and experiences with the film. Kubrick's celebrated 1980 psychological horror film is an adaptation of Stephen King's terrifying 1977 novel and starred Duvall alongside Jack Nicholson, Scatman Crothers, and Danny Lloyd. In The Shining, a recovering alcoholic and writer (Nicholson) takes the job of caretaker for the Overlook Hotel with his wife and son, leading to supernatural forces tormenting and driving the writer to become a terrifying threat to his loved ones.
Kubrick's film continues to have an unshakable presence in film history, with fans finding new hidden details about The Shining even after 43 years after its release, and now lore surrounding one of the films leading stars is being addressed. Tackling the widely-spread account that Duvall was left forever traumatized by her experiences with Kubrick on the set of the film, shelleyduvallxo's incredibly detailed thread cites books and interviews with the star herself to dismiss tales about her time on The Shining while also providing perspective on the star's career beyond the film. Check out shelleyduvallxo's impressive work below:
Shelley Duvall's Incredible Impact Extends Beyond The Shining
While The Shining received a mixed response upon release, its critical reappraisal has seen Duvall's performance as Wendy receive wider recognition for how she captured the terrified mother's fight for survival against a warped version of a loved one in the isolating environment of The Overlook. While Nicholson's overpowering, terrifying, but somewhat tragic portrayal of Jack Torrance has received acclaim and been the center of many of the film's most memorable moments, Duvall's performance is just as important, as the star adds a much-needed human element that helps firmly invest audiences in the horror. As such, Duvall's role in The Shining is one of the elements that has helped it remain a classic to this day.
Following her time in The Shining, Duvall would star in 19 films and numerous TV series, and would later helm and serve as a producer on several of her own anthology series, including Faerie Tale Theatre, Tall Tales & Legends, Nightmare Classics, and Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories. However​​​​​​, Duvall would step away from acting and her work in Hollywood in 2002, withdrawing from public life. Following this 20-year hiatus, Duvall returned to acting and the horror genre in 2023's The Forest Hills.
Duvall's experiences on The Shining has become one of the film's most pervasive production stories, becoming widely spread among audiences online. However, shelleyduvallxo's thorough thread is an excellent exploration of the star's true time in production, offering a detailed recount of one of cinema's most infamous film shoots with detailed citations from those involved. Furthermore, the thread is a welcome celebration of Duvall herself, the hard work she contributed to one of cinema's most influential films, and her career long after leaving the Overlook behind.
Source: @shelleyduvallxo