See that look on Shelly Duvalls face in ?The Shining?
Shes not acting.
Director Stanley Kubrick made sure Duvall was in a constant state of anxiety on the set. He instructed crew members not to interact with her. Meanwhile, he was ultra-friendly to her co-star Jack Nicholson.
Thats because Kubrick was a bit of a dick and would deliberately make lives difficult for actors if it thought it would make for a better performance.
He did the same thing to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in ?Eyes Wide Shut, making them re-play a scene where theyre arguing about Cruises behaviour at a party earlier in the evening. He kept them at it until the wee hours of the morning getting more tired and frustrated with each passing take.
But Duvall took it hard. Her isolation on the set gave her real anxiety and it still affected her years later.
