10 Actors Who Openly Hated Working With Their Directors
3. Shelley Duvall Vs. Stanley Kubrick - The Shining
The Shining is a horror classic, widely regarded as one of the best horror films ever made, but for Shelley Duvall, the horror was all too real. Kubrick was adamant he'd found his Wendy in the Texas native, even vetoing star Jack Nicholson's suggestion of Jessica Lange.
Every actor has a different process, and Duvall's is mostly improvisational. Every director has a different process, too, and Kubrick's process involves multiple takes. In one infamous case, he reshot the infamous baseball bat scene, where a terrified Wendy wields a baseball bat as she retreats from her insane husband. That scene resulted in a world record for the most amount of takes for a scene with dialogue.
Kubrick also created an intentionally hostile environment for Duvall, refusing to praise her work and commanding everyone else on set not to sympathise with her. The stress got so bad that Duvall became physically ill, and even started losing her hair.
To make matters even worse, the average film shoot lasts around ten to twelve weeks. The Shining took over a year. Hell, even Wendy didn't suffer for that long.