Shelley Duvall was “in good shape mentally” on final film set, motivated to reshape her legacy

Actor Shelley Duvall was “in good shape mentally” on her final film set and was motivated to reshape her legacy, according to a new interview with the cast and crew of the film.

Tributes poured in for The Shining star after her passing in July this year at the age of 75, including from horror writer Stephen King.

Duvall returned to the big screen in 2022 after two decades away with a role in The Forest Hills and the film is set for release in the US next week and digitally around the rest of the world.

Directed by Scott Goldberg, the film stars Chiko Mendez as Rico, a man who starts to experience “nightmare visions” of his mother (played by Duvall) after suffering a head trauma. Others in the film include Edward Furlong and Dee Wallace.

Now, a new interview with the cast and crew of The Forest Hills in The Guardian has shed light on Duvall’s final film appearance.

The article reveals that while “Duvall [was] using a wheelchair, couldn’t travel and struggled to remember lines…such was her keenness that what was originally a cameo role…was significantly expanded” and the crew returned to “Duvall’s home to continue filming.”

Goldberg also revealed how Duvall agreed to take the role. “I’d always admired Shelley and longed to work with her. Her performance in The Shining is one of the greatest in cinema history,” he began before explaining that he’d approached her longtime partner, Dan Gilroy, (former singer of Breakfast Club) and she agreed to take part: “I didn’t hold out much hope. He passed along her number, we spoke and she said she’d be interested. It was as simple as that.”

Goldberg also went on to discuss the mental health of Duvall, who herself opened up on an episode of Dr Phil in 2016 about her struggles with mental illness. The episode was widely condemned for being exploitative to Duvall and sensationalising her illness.

He explained: “Playing Mama, the matriarch who goads our antihero, was a challenge for her as she’d not previously taken on such a menacing character…She really dug deep and turned in a powerful, nuanced performance that’s unlike anything I’ve seen her do before.

“Mentally, she was in good shape: sharp as a tack and highly engaged with the filming process. Communication and conversation were easy, she was sweet and kind and upbeat. She even spoke about what a great time she’d had making The Shining! We kept in touch after the shoot – touching base on the progress of the movie, or talking about the weather, or sometimes she’d just call to ask when I’d be back to see her.”

Actor Mendez also said Duvall seemed to enjoy the experience. “Her face and smile just read ‘happy’. One of my mottos has always been to ‘surrender to the camera’ and Shelley nurtured that. We talked about every scene in detail, she made suggestions. I witnessed her plough through long hours and still stay on point. She kept me on my toes. We both loved every second of it.”

Goldberg also told The Guardian that a significant factor in Duvall agreeing to do the film was in her thinking about her “legacy” following her experience on Dr Phil. 

“For me personally, a significant motivator was to try to make sure that her legacy was not overshadowed by her exploitative portrayal on Dr Phil. She deeply regretted her participation in the programme,” he told the Guardian.

Duvall, he continued, “deserved better, and the fan support we witnessed in anticipation of her return to the screen was cheering. We wanted to offer her an opportunity to go out with dignity and I think the film serves as testament to her continued brilliance. It’s a tragedy she didn’t have more chance to show it.”

Her passing was confirmed by her long-time partner Dan Gilroy in the summer, who told The Hollywood Reporter that she died in her sleep of complications from diabetes at her home in Blanco, Texas.

“My dear, sweet, wonderful life partner and friend left us. Too much suffering lately, now she’s free. Fly away, beautiful Shelley,” Gilroy told the outlet.

Duvall was known for her work with director Robert Altman, who cast her in 1970’s Brewster McCloud as her first on screen role. From there, she went on to appear in films such as McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), Thieves Like Us (1974) and Nashville (1975).

Following the attention she received in Nashville, she was then cast in 1976’s Buffalo Bill and the Indians and 3 Women. Her role in the latter won her the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress as well as a BAFTA nomination. Duvall also had a role in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) as Pam, a journalist for Rolling Stone.

Three years later, Duvall would go on to land the role of Wendy Torrance in Kubrick’s The Shinning, co-starring alongside Jack Nicholson.

Speaking about her role in the film back in December of 1980, Duvall told Roger Ebert: “Going through day after day of excruciating work was almost unbearable. Jack Nicholson’s character had to be crazy and angry all the time. And in my character I had to cry 12 hours a day, all day long, the last nine months straight, five or six days a week. I was there a year and a month, and there must be something to primal scream therapy, because after the day was over and I’d cried for my 12 hours … After all that work, hardly anyone even criticized my performance in it, even to mention it, it seemed like. The reviews were all about Kubrick, like I wasn’t there.”

The Stanley Kubrick estate also shared a tribute to Duvall on X/Twitter after her passing, writing: “Despite being dogged with exaggerations of her treatment on set, Shelley was always vocal about her experience filming The Shining saying she ‘wouldn’t trade it for anything’ because ‘working with loveable Stanley was a fascinating learning experience. Our thoughts are with Shelley’s friends and family.”

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