The actor too scared to follow in Jack Nicholson’s footsteps: “I’d be pretty hesitant”
These days, audiences are so used to seeing multiple actors playing the same roles in different projects that it’s almost become second nature. After all, in recent years, multiple Batmen and Spider-Men have appeared in the multiplex simultaneously. However, it wasn’t always like this, and in the past, the idea of an actor inheriting a role from a star in a new incarnation of a story was a big deal. So much so, in fact, that the pressure to live up to the previous version could be suffocating for a new actor – and that is precisely how one Golden Globe winner felt when tasked with following in Jack Nicholson’s footsteps.
When Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining was released in 1980, it perplexed audiences and critics alike. Reviews were extremely mixed, and Kubrick was even nominated for ‘Worst Director’ at the Golden Raspberry Awards. Even worse, though, Stephen King let it be known publicly that he hated Kubrick’s interpretation of his novel. All of this seems insane nowadays, given that the film is viewed as a stone-cold classic, but at the time, the only thing anyone could seem to agree on was that Nicholson’s performance as the unhinged Jack Torrance was the best thing about the film.
Over the years, Nicholson’s performance has only grown in stature, and by the time a new version of the story was being mounted for television in 1997, it still loomed large in the cultural consciousness. However, King was still so salty about the changes Kubrick made to his book that he wanted a do-over, so he personally wrote a faithful three-episode adaptation for ABC. Director Mick Garris was hired to helm the miniseries, having previously directed the King-scripted movie Sleepwalkers and a 1994 miniseries adaptation of The Stand.
To cast Torrance, Garris looked to Gary Sinise, who played the lead role in The Stand. At the time, Sinise was only a few years removed from an Oscar nomination for his iconic portrayal of Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, which he had followed up with the blockbusters Apollo 13 and Ransom. Hence, his stock in Hollywood was high. To Garris’ surprise, though, Sinise wasn’t exactly keen on taking the role, and it forced Garris to accept that Kubrick’s movie – even if he didn’t like it – had become iconic in people’s minds.
“The first time I ran up against what you’re talking about, the hesitation, was when I was talking to Gary Sinise about doing The Shining,” Garris admitted in 2017. “I was asking him if he was willing to play Jack Torrance, and he said, ‘You know, I’d be pretty hesitant to step into Mr Nicholson’s shoes.’ I’ll never forget it. I had never even thought about that. But a lot of actors felt the same way.”
Ultimately, Garris wasn’t able to convince Sinise to sign up for The Shining, and he then found himself faced with a succession of American actors who were also wary of going up against the public’s memory of Nicholson screaming, “Here’s Johnny!” So, Garris widened the net to include a couple of unnamed Brits. “We talked to two or three British actors who had no problems with it, and we even cast one of them as Jack,” Garris explained. Amazingly, though, this actor must have thought better of his decision because “he never showed up for the fittings.”
In the end, Garris cast Wings star Steven Weber – the only man willing to go toe to toe with Nicholson – only four days before shooting began. Thankfully, his performance was well-received at the time, but it didn’t cement itself in popular culture in nearly the same way Nicholson’s fiendishly charismatic and terrifying turn did.
