Misery
Rob Reiner’sMiseryis mostly hailed as one of the all - time bestStephen Kinghorror moving picture adaptations . The moving-picture show currently boasts a 90 % Rotten Tomatoes scotch , a 7.8/10 IMDB rating , and a 75/100 Metascore . In increase , the motion picture earned starKathy Batesan Academy Award for Best Leading Actress , marking the first time a woman won such an honour for a horror motion picture .
Also starring James Caan , Richard Farnsworth , Lauren Bacall , and Frances Sternhagen , Miserytells the tale of famed romance novelist Paul Sheldon ( Caan ) , who suffers a car accident in the snowy woods of Colorado . Rescued and wet-nurse by a womanhood name Annie Wilkes ( Bates ) , Paul presently learns his so - called biggest fan is a sadistic psycho murderer . As the film nears its 30th day of remembrance this fall , here are 9 behind - the - scenes fact about the Making ofMisery .
King’s Inspiration
After X of reject to admit the inspiration behindMisery , Stephen Kingfinally add up out and confessed that the picture show is a lightly veiled allegory for his story of drug abuse .
Annie Wilkes is the physical reflexion of the cost drug had been learn on King ’s soundbox during the 1970s and 1980s . While on drugs , King find apart and alone , just like Paul Sheldon is in the film . King observe that he was not ready to face this realness at the time of the film ’s release , and think it would belittle the story if he did .
King’s Blessing
Initially , King resist at the whimsy of Hollywood adaptingMisery . Afraid the major studios would not honor his original vision , King finally agreed to option the plastic film under one condition .
After seeingStand By Me , adapted from King ’s short storyThe Body , King was impressed by the filmmaking skill of director Rob Reiner . King agreed to haveMiseryadapted as a motion-picture show so long as Rob Reiner either produced or take aim through his Castlerock Entertainment yield company .
Casting Paul Sheldon
Prior to casting James Caan in the central role of Paul Sheldon , nearly every major movie sensation was offered the role . According to screenwriter William Goldman in his bookFour Screenplays , everyone from Warren Beatty , Jack Nicholson , Robert De Niro , Harrison Ford , Mel Gibson , Robert Redford , Dustin Hoffman , Al Pacino , Denzel Washington , and Bruce Willis was approach to toy Sheldon .
Other potential candidates for the role include William Hurt , Morgan Freeman , Gene Hackman , Kevin Kline , and others . Warren Beatty help train the script , while Willis would go on to playact Sheldon on Broadway .
Drunken Reshoots
One day during filming , lead histrion James Caan showed up to set whole hungover from the dark before . He filmed a full day ’s Charles Frederick Worth of scene , which ended up being unserviceable due to his condition .
Rather than confront or alien his leading man , Rob Reiner told Caan that there was a problem developing the film at the laboratory and that he had to redo the scene . Caan soon learned that the reshoots had nothing to do with a lab error , and extend to pay the studio the cost of reshoot the scene .
Acting Methods
The represent methods between the two lead thespian were so diametrically opposed that they clashed while filming the movie . In the end , methods helped establish the onscreen tension between Annie and Paul .
James Caan believe in little rehearsal to retain spontaneousness in the scene . As a longtime theater actress , Bates prefer long rehearsal periods prior to filming . Bates present Reiner by telling him Caan was n’t heed to her or reacting very much during the scene . Reiner assure her to use her choler on the role alternatively .
Deleted Scene
While there are many differences between the motion picture and fresh reading ofMisery , one view was shot for the cinema and cancel , much to the humiliation ofKathy Bates .
The scene mean Wilkes accosting a young police military officer patrolling her property . Taking place at the height of her violent extravasation , Wilkes pulverizes the officer by repeatedly run him over with a lawnmower . Reiner ultimately choose to cut the scene for fear that audiences would find it too over the top and burst into laugh .
James Caan’s Performance
For his performance , James Caan was hold in to a bed for around 15 weeks of filming . He thought Reiner was playing a sick joke on him at first , as he did not study the novel prior to production . He also did n’t consider Reiner would have the patience to appease in one location for so long .
During the scene in which Sheldon crawls out of layer , manager of picture taking Barry Sonnenfeld patter on the floor to show Caan where to go . Although he was not Reiner ’s first choice for the role , he publicly stated he could n’t ideate anyone else playing the role .
Paul’s Prosthetic Legs
The most iconic prospect inMiseryfeatures Annie bashing Paul ’s ankle in bed with a big sledgehammer . For the pellet , Paul ’s leg were molded out of bendable gelatin .
In addition , conducting wire were rigged to ligature in the ankles so that when it was chance on by the pound , they could bend and contort at the grisliest angles imaginable . Holes were puncture into the gelatin casts at the human knee so Caan could slip his veridical legs in and out with comfort .
Kathy Bates
It was screenwriter William Goldman who suggested Kathy Bates act Annie Wilkes in the film . However , prior to being formally cast , other actress up for the part included Jessica Lange , Barbara Streisand , Mary Tyler Moore , Vicky Lawrence , Roseanne Barr , Rosie O’Donnell , and more .
Despite consume trouble with the violence in the moving-picture show , Bates went on to win an Oscar for Best take Actress for her operation in Misery . King was so impressed by her work that he seamster - made two subsequent roles for her to play . King wrote the novel , Dolores Claiborne , with Bates in mind , who work on to asterisk in the film version . Also , when King learned Bates had been attached to miniseries free-base on his novelThe Stand , he rewrite the manful character of Ray to be a female named Rae for Bates to play .
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