10 Failed Movie Castings That Were A Blessing In Disguise
1. Robin Williams As Jack Torrance In The Shining
HEEEEEEEEERE'S ROBIN!
Seriously, how cool would this have been?
On the cusp of the 80's, Robin Williams would usually be found imitating an elastic band on the hit TV Series, Mork and Mindy. That is where Stanley Kubrick spotted the eventual Oscar winner and decided that he would be a suitable vessel for the disturbed, Jack Torrance.
It looked as though Kubrick would get his man, only to change his mind and opt for Jack Nicholson, instead. As it turned out, the director felt that Williams was too psychotic to play the role.
Stephen King famously didn't like any of Kubrick's choices - Williams, Robert De Niro and Harrison Ford included - and even rebuked Nicholson being cast as the lead, wanting a 'normal' looking man to be cast in order to show a greater fall into insanity.
Williams missing out led to Nicholson going on to smash the part, as only he could.
That wouldn't spell the end for the TV star's film prospects, though. He would finish up on Mork and Mindy, before embarking on a truly diverse big screen career that involved everything from teaching students to redefining what it was to be a voice actor.
Still, you can't help but wonder what madness could have been conjured up with Williams behind the wheel of Kubrick's Torrance.