Heeere’s Shelley!
“The Shining” star Shelley Duvall is returning to acting, after more than two decades away, with the upcoming indie horror movie “The Forest Hills.”
Also starring Edward Furlong, Chiko Mendez and Dee Wallace, the flick is said to follow a disturbed man tormented by nightmarish visions after enduring head trauma during a camping trip in the Catskill Mountains, Deadline reports.
Duvall, 73, will play the mother of the emotionally disturbed Rico (Mendez).
“The Forest Hills” comes from writer-director Scott Goldberg, who serves as co-producer. Scott Hansen is also producing with Dreznick Goldberg Productions and Digital Thunderdome Studios.
“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 in a statement to 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,” he added.
Duvall famously played protagonist Wendy Torrance in the 1980 film adaptation of the Stephen King novel, and the demands of the role stayed with her for far longer.
She revealed her mental health struggles on a 2016 episode of “Dr. Phil,” declaring, “I’m very sick… I need help.”
In 2021, Duvall told The Hollywood Reporter how having to cry on set almost every day during the 56-week shoot took its toll.
“After a while, your body rebels,” she explained. “It says, ‘Stop doing this to me. I don’t want to cry every day.’ And sometimes just that thought alone would make me cry. To wake up on a Monday morning, so early, and realize that you had to cry all day because it was scheduled — I would just start crying.”
Her acting portfolio also includes “Popeye,” “3 Women” and “Brewster McCloud.” Duvall announced her retirement from acting in 2002 after starring in one final film, “Manna From Heaven.”
