Kubrick's 18th Take: An Actor's Shocking On-Set Confession
Stanley Kubrick's reputation for being a demanding director is legendary. He pushed his cast to the brink, but what happened when one actor finally pushed back? Discover the story of a tense moment on the set of his final film that ended in an unexpected way.
Stanley Kubrick’s legacy is inseparable from his reputation as a relentless perfectionist. While his methods produced cinematic masterpieces, they also raise a difficult question: did the ends justify the means? Perhaps no story illustrates his demanding nature more than Shelley Duvall's harrowing experience during the filming of The Shining. He required her to repeat emotionally draining scenes of screaming and crying over and over, you can imagine the toll that takes on a person's physical and mental state. The actor was left completely exhausted, but if it meant getting the perfect shot, Kubrick seemed indifferent to the impact on his cast.
A Director's Demands
This obsession with repetition was legendary. The Guinness World Records even notes that a single scene in The Shining, where Scatman Crothers and Danny Lloyd discuss the meaning of the 'shining', holds the record for the most takes with dialogue: an astonishing 148. Anyone who agreed to work on one of his films had to be prepared for an ordeal of countless takes and a director who offered his opinions without any filter.
The Pianist's Trial
Actor Todd Field discovered this firsthand when he took on the role of the pianist in Kubrick's final movie, Eyes Wide Shut. Though he didn't face the same number of repetitions as the cast of The Shining, he was stunned by the director's raw honesty. After shooting one particular scene, Field recalled the feedback to IndieWire. “The first scene, where Bill reunites with Nick at Ziegler’s party. We did 18 takes, which for Stanley wasn’t a lot, and afterwards, he said, ‘Wow, that was great, really great, but the first 17 you were lousy. I mean, the difference between take 18 and all the rest is remarkable’.”
Breaking the Tension
Faced with such bluntness, a shocked Field decided to meet honesty with honesty, a move that ultimately broke the ice. “I said, ‘Look, Stanley, I was nervous. I’m here with the biggest star in the world and my favourite filmmaker, and you’re lucky I didn’t piss my pants’.” The candid admission worked. Being on set with giants like Tom Cruise and Sydney Pollack was understandably nerve-wracking, a fact the filmmaker finally seemed to grasp. “He laughed, and after that it was easy. He read wild lines with me himself. And, like Marty Scorsese, he was a terrific actor. And that was a beautiful thing, the way he played,” Field explained.
Field's character, Nick Nightingale, is essential to the movie, as he introduces Tom Cruise's character, Bill, to the shadowy secret society at the heart of the story. By giving Bill the password to a bizarre masked orgy where he is hired to play the piano blindfolded, Nick sets the entire plot in motion. After that initial, tense encounter, Field found his footing. He was able to relax and deliver a compelling performance as the enigmatic Nick Nightingale.