The Shining: The Actors Who Almost Played Jack Torrance
Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack Torrance in The Shining is one of the best of his career, but he wasn’t the only option to play the character.
You Are Reading :The Shining The Actors Who Almost Played Jack Torrance
Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining starred Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance in what many consider one of his best performances, but Nicholson wasn’t Kubrick’s only option for the role. Back in 1977, Stephen King’s third novel The Shining was published, and its success helped establish King as a preeminent author in the horror genre. Just three years later, The Shining made the jump to the big screen, but it went through so many changes, it has little to do with the source material.
The Shining follows Jack Torrance, an aspiring writer and recovering alcoholic who accepts a job as the off-season caretaker of the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Jack takes his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and son Danny (Danny Lloyd) with him, but after a snowstorm leaves them cut off from the outside world, the supernatural forces living in the hotel begin to play with Jack’s sanity. Meanwhile, Danny struggles with his powers, referred to as “the shining”, which awaken the hotel’s evil forces. Although Stephen King been very open about his thoughts and feelings for The Shining and it received mixed reviews upon its release, time has been good to it and it’s now regarded as one of the best movies ever made.
Something that hasn’t changed, however, is the praise Jack Nicholson’s performance has received, even if King himself saw his casting as a mistake. But as hard as it might be to imagine someone else playing Jack in Kubrick’s movie, Nicholson wasn’t the only option for the role, and there were other big names with different acting styles in consideration.
The Shining: Robert De Niro Almost Played Jack Torrance
While Jack Nicholson was Kubrick’s top choice to play Jack Torrance, there were other names on the list. First is Robert De Niro, who Kubrick decided wasn’t psychotic enough after watching his performance in Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver. De Niro’s career began in 1965 in the short film Encounter, but his first proper role in a movie happened thanks to Brian De Palma’s 1968 movie Greetings. His big break, however, arrived in 1973 with Scorsese’s Mean Streets, marking their first collaboration. The same year The Shining was released, De Niro played Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, which gave him his second Academy Award for Best Actor.
Another big name on the list was Robin Williams, who Kubrick thought was too psychotic for the role of Jack Torrance after watching his performance in Mork & Mindy. Williams rose to fame thanks to his role as Mork in the aforementioned series, and in 1980 he played Popeye in the movie of the same name. His big break arrived in 1987 when he starred in Good Morning, Vietnam, and his fame and reputation as one of the best (and most versatile) actors of his generation increased with movies like Dead Poets Society, Awakenings, Aladdin (where he voiced the Genie), and Mrs. Doubtfire. Williams’ potential casting was met with the disapproval of Stephen King, as did Harrison Ford, who was briefly considered for the role. By the time The Shining was released, Harrison Ford was already a widely known name thanks to his roles in American Grafitti, Star Wars, and Apocalypse Now. In 1980, he reprised his role as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and the following year he starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark as the legendary Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr.
Jack Nicholson’s career began in 1958 with the movie The Cry Baby, but his big break arrived thanks to Dennis Hopper’s Easy Rider. Before The Shining, Nicholson appeared in some big projects like Roman Polanski’s Chinatown and the drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which gave him his first Academy Award for Best Actor. Among his most memorable projects after The Shining are Terms of Endearment, Tim Burton’s Batman, Mars Attacks!, and Scorsese’s The Departed. Jack Nicholson hasn’t appeared on the big screen since 2010, but he has a special place in the hearts of many, not only because of his role as Jack Torrance in The Shining but for many of his other projects as well.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/shining-movie-jack-torrance-nicholson-actors-almost-cast/