Movies - TV
James Caan Remembered Misery As One Of The Most 'Painful' Films Of His Career
By DANIELLE RYAN
With a title like “Misery,” it’s not surprising that making the film was a miserable experience for James Caan. Based on the novel by Stephen King, Rob Reiner’s 1990 movie “Misery” is a taut thriller in which Caan plays a novelist held captive by one of his fans, and according to Caan and his co-star Kathy Bates, filming the movie was a struggle.
Horror films are notoriously hard to make, but “Misery” might be in a league of its own. For Caan’s part, the role required him to lie in bed for most of the 15-week shoot, which was extremely difficult for the active actor. Worse still, when one scene went wrong, Caan recalled, “All of God’s children got hurt,” meaning Caan himself, Bates, and the pig performer on set.
For her part, Bates remembered her most difficult scene, “When he slammed my head into the floor and started shoving the paper in my mouth, that was bad. When we got through with that, I just went off stage and burst into tears. It was just awful.” Clearly making “Misery” was miserable for all involved.