Sam Amico
She didn’t say, “Here’s Johnny,” but Shelly Duvall is returning to the big screen. This is a bit of a surprise, given that she announced her retirement from acting 20 years ago — and stuck to it.
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Duvall is perhaps most noted for her role as the spouse of the deranged Jack Nicholson character deranged in the 1980 Stephen King horror flick The Shining. That was when Nicholson’s Jack Torrance axed through a door and announced the frightening “Here’s Johnny” line.
Now, Duvall will play a considerably less tortured character in her comeback film — though it is indeed another horror flick. Per Deadline, the movie is called The Forest Hills. It also stars the likes of Edward Furlong, Chiko Mendez and Dee Wallace.
Shelley Duvall Throughout The Years
Shelley Duvall, 73, is set to play the mother of “a disturbed man who is tormented by nightmarish visions. This after enduring head trauma while camping in the Catskill Mountains,” Deadline reported. Mendez will portray Rico, the disturbed man in question, and Duvall’s character provides his inner voice.
Dreznick Goldberg Productions will co-produce the movie, with Scott Goldberg serving as director.
“We are huge fans of The Shining and it’s honestly one of my favorite horror movies of all time, up there with John Carpenter’s Halloween and George A. Romero’s Day of the Dead with the dark tones they delivered in their movies, along with perfect scores and elements that make them my personal favorites,” Goldberg said, via Deadline. “Shelley contributed to The Shining being an absolute masterpiece by giving her all, and performing in a way that really showcased the fear and horror of a mother in isolation.”
Duvall moved from Hollywood to Texas, her home state, following a 1994 California earthquake. She then announced she had retired from acting in 2002.
While she starred in The Shining, and as Olive Oyl next to Robin Williams in Popeye, she remained completely out of the spotlight until a bizarre 2016 interview with Dr. Phil. Viewers believed she may be suffering from mental illness.
“I’m very sick,” she said during the interview. “I need help.”
No release date has been announced yet for The Forest Hills, as it remains in production.
