The one moment of Stephen King’s career he wishes he could delete from history
You wouldn’t expect the iconic American horror writer Stephen King to have many regrets, after all, the author is responsible for some of the most influential books and movies of modern entertainment. His ability to think of, create, and sell a story to millions of people is largely unparalleled in the world of literature. Add to that his stories’ abilities to transcend the written word and be adapted into movies, and you have a career that most would dream of.
But alas, even the author of such classics as The Shining, The Green Mile and Stand By Me looks back on his career and can’t help but feel a niggling sense of embarrassment. Most of us would have a plethora of career-related missteps, but for King, there seems to be only one that really irks him. Despite his unparalleled imagination and ability to craft consistently compelling stories, he’s human.
A well-known critic of the movie adaptation of his own 1977 novel The Shining, directed by Stanley Kubrick, was it the choice to give the film to the renowned filmmaker that he regrets the most? In short, no. While he considers the film to be “a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it,” he recognises the love for Kubrick’s classic and puts the personal dislike down to pure subjective taste. King wasn’t a fan of how little room Jack Torrance, his central character played by Jack Nicholson in the movie, was given to grow, but really, that’s just his view on the matter and one he is largely happy to let pass him by.
Or, maybe he regrets the weird orgy scene he inserted into his 1986 horror novel It. If you didn’t know, the moment involved the book’s teen female lead Beverly engaging in an underage orgy with her six pre-teen friends that made up The Losers Club. Thankfully struck from both movie adaptations, the orgy scene often goes undiscussed from his terrifying clown tale and rightfully so. King is often considered a prolific writer, but there are times he should have simply stopped typing, and this was certainly one of them. However, It wasn’t enough to make him wince for too long. Stephen King’s biggest regret actually has nothing to do with his novels, nor any of his story’s movie adaptations.
Instead, King massively regrets taking part in an American Express commercial that aired in 1983. “Do you know me?” King stated in the horror-inspired advert, giving a sly wink to the audience with the knowledge that very few people knew what he actually looked like despite writing several classic novels and cashing paycheques from their wildly successful movie adaptations.
Continuing, he adds, “I’m author Stephen King, and I’ve been trapped here without food or water for four days,” in a bizarre commercial that does nothing for the brand while exposing the writer’s image to the world. It’s a head-scratcher of a commercial, least of all because it does nothing to help sell the idea of the American Express card in any way.
Speaking about the mistake in an interview with fellow author Neil Gaiman, King stated: “If I had my life over again, I’d have done everything the same. Even the bad bits”.
Despite this, King adds, “But I wouldn’t have done the American Express ‘Do You Know Me?’ TV ad.” However, it wasn’t the cringing nature of the commercial itself, but the fact it revealed his identity to the world that really annoyed him: “After that, everyone in America knew what I looked like”.
With a very distinctive face, King immediately regretted putting his identity out there, especially as so few authors are recognisable in public. In fact, when it comes to contemporary writers, King is only really joined by JK Rowling, George RR Martin and Salman Rushdie in the small collection of authors who would be recognised on the everyday streets of your everyday town.
Still, seeing as he had already put his face out there, King appeared in a number of other on-screen roles, including in his own directorial debut Maximum Overdrive, as well as in 1996’s Thinner and, most recently, in It: Chapter 2. But, in a career filled with so many successes, one should expect to have a few failures. It just so happens that King’s would be the moment he formally showed his face to the world.
