20 Things You Didn't Know About The Shining

But Nicholson provided more to this movie than just his usual insane performance and improvising one of the most famous lines in film history, he actually wrote an entire scene on his own.

The scene in question was the famous scene of Jack Torrence berating his wife for interrupting his writing. This shouldn't surprise anyone actually familiar with Nicholson's work, as even back then, he had a deep understanding of the intricacies of anger and the many forms it takes, so it makes sense that he would have some hand in writing the scene where that comes the most to the forefront in the movie.

According to Nicholson, he drew on personal experience when writing this scene. He was a writer as well as an actor, often working late into the night and becoming half crazed in the process, which took quite the toll on his marriage at times. He channeled that kind of energy into the half-mad, manic, self important posturing that Jack Torrence exudes during that scene, and what resulted was one of the most chilling exchanges in the movie.