20 Things You Didn't Know About The Shining

Danny Lloyd was 5 years old when he was in The Shining, so even a wack-a-mole like Kubrick didn't want to permanently traumatize the kid by letting him in on what he was really acting in.

To protect him, Kubrick told Lloyd that - rather than a scary movie - they were making a drama. Danny didn't even see the whole film until 11 years later, when he turned 16. Though, hilariously, as a result of having seen the film from behind the scenes, he failed to find it scary.

Indeed, once you've seen Jack Nicholson's method acting preparation for his otherwise chilling performance, that performance becomes more funny than scary.

Now of course, this raises some interesting questions about what was going through Danny Lloyd's 5 year old mind during shooting. How does one look at - say - the above image and not think they're in a horror movie? Kubrick really lucked out that the book called for a really young kid, otherwise the kid actor they got would likely have put it together themselves.