Jack Nicholson will be forever remembered as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 horror flick The Shining. Being the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel, the ghosts finally convince Torrance to do something unthinkable.
Convincing him to murder his wife and his child, the ghosts urge Torrance to break through everything and join them by murdering his wife and his son. The iconic story resulted in one of the most impressive scenes in Hollywood.
Here’s Johnny!
When you read the title, an immediate image of Jack Nicholson breaking down the bathroom door with an axe pops up in your head. This is the power of how iconic a scene can be.
During the finale part of The Shining, we see Jack Torrance limping through the Overlook Hotel with an axe in his right hand and in search of his wife and his kid. When Shelley Duvall (Wendy Torrance) hides in the bathroom, she locks the door from the inside.
*Thud* we hear as Jack Torrance starts breaking down the door with an axe. When he’s almost done, we see his head popping through the door as he says the iconic line “Here’s Johnny”.
Although this scene is quite awesome, what many people don’t know is that Jack Nicholson was quite powerful thanks to his former job. As per a report by Looper, Nicholson was an ex-firefighter before he joined the world of Hollywood.
This meant extensive training in breaking doors and being an overall fit person capable of doing some exhaustive things. Although it was a good fit for Nicholson, this led to some props breaking on the first try!
Jack Nicholson Broke The Door Too Soon
Being a firefighter has its perks. However, no one would have imagined that Nicholson would break the door so soon that the crew would have to reshoot the entire scene!
A resurfaced video (via The Independent) made its way onto the internet. The video showcased Nicholson gearing up for breaking the door down. The actor can be seen jumping up and down while yelling “Axe murderer” in order to get ready for his role.
The report further continues that when Stanley Kubrick said ‘action’, Jack Nicholson started breaking the door aggressively. This led to the door being broken too soon and the scene lost its impact.
The crew had to reshoot the entire scene and this time, they placed a real wooden door instead of a prop. The end result is forever etched into the minds of people as a terrifying Jack Torrance is seen through the broken door.
After its release, The Shining received a rating of 8.4/10 on IMDB and a whopping 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. The iconic 1980 film is available to rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
