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Faye Dunaway and Jack Nicholson starred in the 1974 classic thriller film,Chinatown. The film was helmed by Roman Polanski, who was known to be a difficult director to work with. Dunaway had difficult times with the director while filmingChinatown, but she claimed that Jack Nicholson helped her through some of these difficult times.
However, Shelley Duvall, who worked with him onThe Shining, had no such story to share even though Stanley Kubrick made her experience a nightmare. Nicholson saw that Duvall was undergoing emotional turmoil during the film and chose to do nothing to help her.
Jack Nicholson Helped Faye Dunaway During The Filming OfChinatown
Faye Dunawayhad a pretty complicated time working onRoman Polanski‘sChinatown. While Polanski was a challenging filmmaker, she proved to be an equally challenging and demanding actress. She opened up about her experiences in the 1974 film as well as other films in her career in the HBO documentary,Faye.
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She shared in the documentary that Polanski was undoubtedly a great director, butcalled him a“terror”to work with. She was sure that Polanski shared the same feeling about her. She shared (via PEOPLE):
We had difficult times, he and I, but he’s a great film director. Roman the terror. But he thought I was a terror also, I’m sure. We had a pretty complicated time.
She also revealed an instance when the director yanked a piece of hair off her head as he was frustrated by the hair falling on her face during a shot. She went berserk on the director and stormed off from the set. Dunaway shared thatJack Nicholsonhelped her through the difficult times on set. She shared,“Jack helped, though. Nicholson being there made all the difference.”
She shared that Nicholson nicknamed her ‘Dread’ for ‘The Dreaded Dunaway’ after the hair incident with Polanski. She shared that he still called her ‘Dread’ and admitted that she loved the name.
Jack Nicholson Never Helped Shelley Duvall Through Her Traumatic Experience InThe Shining
While Jack Nicholson was the knight in shining armor for Faye Dunaway, he did not lift a finger to helpShelley DuvallinThe Shining. Duvall, whopassed away on July 11, was open about her difficult experience working in the Stanley Kubrick movie. In her 2021 interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, she shared:
[Kubrick] doesn’t print anything until at least the 35th take. Thirty-five takes, running and crying and carrying a little boy, it gets hard. And full performance from the first rehearsal. That’s difficult.
When asked whetherKubrick was unusually cruel to her, Duvall shared,“He’s got that streak in him. He definitely has that.”But she also shared that he was“very warm and friendly”to her at other times and just wanted to sit down and talk with her and Nicholson for hours.
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Angelica Huston, who was Nicholson’s girlfriend at the time, felt that the actor and director were ganging up on Duvall. Huston shared they“didn’t seem to be all that sympathetic”. She shared that whenever she saw Duvall, the actress was“a bit tortured, shook up.”Huston didn’t believe that anyone on the set was particularly careful of her.
Duvall shared that Nicholson had told her that he didn’t know how she managed to cry 12 hours a day on the set ofThe Shining. The accounts seem to paint the picture that Nicholson did nothing in particular to help Duvall.
Chinatownis now available for streaming on Max, whileThe Shiningis available on AMC+.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3019
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
