10 Movie Directors That Lied To Get What They Wanted
8. Stanley Kubrick Hid The True Nature Of The Film - The Shining
Working with children can create its own set of circumstances that can make filmmaking a challenge to cater for their needs, like minimal working hours and, in the case of some genres, making sure they’re far off set when they’re not needed.
Danny Lloyd, at six years old, played one of the most famous youngsters in horror movie The Shining: the gifted Danny Torrance who witnesses terrible things in the Overlook Hotel and is, eventually, hunted by his psychotically broken Father, Jack.
Unsurprisingly, director Stanley Kubrick and his crew kept young Lloyd away from the horrifying imagery of the movie and the child actor thought they were making a drama. It was only when he was seventeen, when he saw a heavily-edited version of the movie, that he realised he’d starred in an all-time horror classic.
Whilst Kubrick has been rightfully chastised for his treatment of Shelley Duvall (who portrayed Danny’s mother Wendy), Lloyd remembers Kubrick as a warmer figure who would even play catch with him on the hotel’s grounds between scenes. He even hung out with the other child actors on set, the twin girls who played the terrifying duo when cameras were rolling.
As a child, Lloyd had no idea the kind of movie they were making and even watching it back he describes it as more like a “home movie” to him.