How Stephen King gave James Caan the seal of approval for ‘Misery’
As an unrivalled master of horror literature, author Stephen King has overseen many of his terrifying and brilliant books adapted for the big screen under the direction of many great filmmakers. These live adaptations have become iconic trademarks in the horror genre, such as the spine-chilling Misery, the 1990 adaptation of King’s 1987 novel of the same name, starring James Caan and Kathy Bates.
Misery was directed by Rob Reiner, who had previously directed King’s novella The Body into the definitive coming-of-age classic Stand By Me four years earlier, with stars Caan and Bates playing a writer and one of his obsessed fans. After Caan’s Paul Sheldon gets into a car accident, Bates’ Annie Wilkes takes him home and holds him captive as he recovers. Wilkes forces Sheldon to rewrite the last book of his trademark romance series after discovering he plans to kill the main character off to transition into more mature writing. This rewrite involves intense psychological and physical torture, pushing the writer to his breaking point at the hands of someone who claims to love him and his work.
Misery examines the psychology of a ‘number one fan’, aligning it with a hostage backdrop accentuating the horror aspect. Wilkes’ treatment of Sheldon makes for some twisted and harrowing physical horror alongside the disturbing psychological themes, such as the infamous ‘sledgehammer to the ankles‘ sequence – adapted from the ‘axe to the ankles’ segment from the book – which showcases the extreme brutality on Wilkes’ part. The adaptation is the only film based on a Stephen King novel that won an Oscar, as Bates’ received the academy award for ‘Best Actress in a Leading Role’ at the 63rd Oscars, beating Anjelica Houston for The Drifters and Julia Robbers for Pretty Woman.
In addition to the commercial success, King has confirmed that Reiner’s effort is in his top ten film adaptations of his work, sitting beside Stand By Me and Brian De Palma’s 1976 adaptation of the novels Carrie. King found the film so intense and captivating that he became exasperated when he first saw it.
Leading man Caan recounted the experience Entertainment Weekly during an interview for his reunion with co-star Bates. “We had the screening in Westwood, and he was sitting in the back with Rob. He really never came to any of his movies. He didn’t like his movies,” the actor shared. “He got so into it that… when she comes in at the end, with the tray, it’s dead quiet… and you hear, ‘Watch out. She’s got a gun!’ And it was Stephen.”
This exclaimed reaction was all Caan needed as an ultimate seal of approval for his emotionally distressed performance in the film. William Hurt was initially offered the role of Sheldon twice, followed by Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, and Dustin Hoffman.
Two more exciting potentials were Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, two actors who had spent the previous decade playing psychologically compromised but overtly masculine characters, different to Sheldon. Reiner then considered Richard Dreyfuss, who had provided the voice-over narration and grown-up version of Stand By Me’s protagonist Gordie, before offering the role to Gene Hackman and Robert Redford.