Shelley Duvall has died
bbc.com
bbc.com
I met and talked to her a few times in town over the past 10 years or so. She could serve as an example person that needed help (I tried to help on occasion in tiny "help the old lady across the street" ways). Lets remember to try and be compassionate to those around us.
Why?
> "I’m very sick, I need help," she says in an interview airing Friday.
Basically, she struggled with mental health later in her life, much more so than most people.
The need to become somebody else deeply for a short period of time and then revert doesn't seem like a natural thing (though I guess most creative things aren't). Maybe it's the reason why people like Daniel Day-Lewis takes such long breaks between his roles to "reset" himself.
This was sort of portrayed in a comedic way at the end of Tropic Thunder when RDJ's character transitioned between all his roles and the became himself.
I spent a long time doing stuff in community theatre and I realised there were a number of different types of actors who approached the craft very differently but could turn in equally great performances. Some seemed to be able to simply put on a mask, behave in a particular way and then switch out of it. Others would get every much into embodying the character and needed to spend time thinking about backstories and motivations. The later approach seemed to be quite exhausting when the character was quite dark or troubled.
I have no desire to ever act, but watching the process was always fascinating.
[1] edit : I meant "did NOT know her well". I hope my sentiment was reasonably clear.
Then maybe just edit the text. The HN pathology of footnoting doesn't need to be universal.
Personally, I think King's stories just don't translate very well to movies, unless (as with Kubrick's "The Shining") huge liberties are taken with the source material. Most adaptations I've seen of his stories were just bad.
Eh it comes off as a corny and flat depiction of people who might otherwise be interesting. Romantic, but not a depiction of believable humans. And the problem certainly ain't the actors.
I've never read the book, but perhaps this criticism applies to the book as well. King certainly has a tendency to push fetishized characteristics that take the place of earnest characterization. This is certainly true of the Stand, the Dark Tower series, the Shining, Insomnia, Green Mile, and probably many others of his works. This is not an original take. See one popular opinion here: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/stephen-king...
I like the movie, it's one of my favourite films of all time, and I am sorry you feel I and a large contingent of people are misguided because they have a different opinion than yours or your favourite critic's.
I have rewatched it in the past 6 months BTW.
One example of a truly unfilmable King/Bachman novel is Thinner, though maybe it could now be done, at great expense, with AI (there was a ridiculous TV version, though).
I interviewed him, when I was aged 16, in 1983, and asked him about The Shining. He was in a conciliatory mood on the topic that day, but re-emphasized how little he thought of Kubrick's shot choices for the scene where Danny discovers Wendy reading his manuscript.
To that criticism, Kubrick responded over the years that if we had just been jump-scared by Jack suddenly appearing over Wendy's shoulder as she read, we would have felt relief and even started laughing to blow it off, which would have undermined the tension Kubrick was looking to build past this point in the scene.
The baseball scene alone is famous for taking 127 takes.
The life of an actor on a challenging shoot can definitely have an impact on their physical and mental health and Kubrick was notably one of the most demanding and meticulous directors. It's just a thing, similar to Elon Musk in business. The results are wildly successful and most involved were likely aware of what they were signing up for, the sacrifices that had to be made to work with one of the most revered in the business and to create high and lasting art. Unfortunately for Shelley I don't believe she had the mental constitution for it.
Also keep in mind that people in the public eye are going to want to craft a narrative when it comes to their own legacy. At the end of the day most would want to be remembered more for their accomplishments than the difficulties that went into achieving them, esp. when it comes to their most culturally significant work.
I recently (randomly!) listened to the "What Went Wrong" podcast episode about Popeye. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/popeye-1980/id15128470...
It was _hilarious_ . But the one thing that went perfectly was the casting of Shelley Duvall. The podcasters said "If you gave god a bunch of popeye cartoons and told him to make a real human version of Olive Oyl, you'd get Shelley Duvall." And Shelley herself said that she grew up being called Olive Oyl, and hated it because of all that it implied- but now that it got her cast in a big budget movie, she said the comparison doesn't hurt anymore!
Again, that makes her casting as Olive perfect. It helps the audience see in Olive what Popeye and Bluto see in her.
For whatever reason, the Fairy Tale Theatre episodes are hard to come by. They’re not on any streaming service although there have been DVD releases. The first episode featured Robin Williams as the frog prince with Eric Idle directing.
It was only in the last couple years that I learned that not only is she not Robert Duvall’s daughter,¹ they aren’t related.
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1. Actually, it turns out she is Robert Duvall’s daughter, just not that Robert Duvall.
Hollywood idealism is whack
There are definitely actors today to also have an unconventional look, but you’re comparing 1970s unconventional to 2020s unconventional.
I think she would have fit right in today.
For context, she hosted a show called "Faerie Tale Theatre".