Welcome back to Behind The Scenes Saturday. Since it’s so close to Christmas, I originally wanted pick one of my favorite Christmas movies to do a post on. However, we recently lost one of the greatest and most beloved directors of our time, Rob Reiner. Today, I wanted to honor him by posting about my favorite movie of his, Misery. Whenever I got writer’s block, Misery’s demented story always brought inspiration. I hope you all enjoy. RIP Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.

(Trivia provided by IMDb.com)

(Pictures provided by google.com, IMDb.com, and YouTube)

(SPOILER ALERT!!!)

• Stephen King was so impressed by Kathy Bates’ (Annie) performance in this film, that when he wrote his novel, Dolores Claiborne, he wrote the main character with Bates in mind. Bates later starred in the adaptation of that story as well. Also, when she expressed interest in appearing in the mini-series adaptation, The Stand, King re-wrote the script and made one of his male characters female so she could play it.
• One day during filming, James Caan (Paul) showed up on set so hungover, that all of the scenes he shot were practically unusable. The film’s director, Rob Reiner told Caan that they had to redo all of the scenes due to problems at the lab. Caan later learned that it had nothing to do with the labs and he offered to cover the money that he lost the studio.
• Jack Nicholson was initially offered the role of Paul Sheldon. After what he experienced working with Stanley Kubrick on The Shining, he wasn’t sure he wanted to work on another Stephen King adaptation, so he turned it down.
• James Caan and Kathy Bates clashed quite a bit over their acting methods. Caan preferred as little rehearsal as possible, while Bates was used to practicing a lot. When she approached Rob Reiner and told him that Caan was not trying to relate or listen to her, Reiner told her to use that frustration towards her performance.

• During filming, James Caan stayed in bed for 15 weeks. He later stated that he thought Rob Reiner was playing a sadistic joke on him, knowing that Caan didn’t like not moving around for so long. He was not used to playing a reactionary character at the time, and he found it a lot more tougher to play.
• Stephen King originally was hesitant on selling the film rights to Misery because he wasn’t sure Hollywood would be able to provide a faithful adaptation. However, King was so impressed with the film, Stand By Me, that he agreed to sell the rights under the condition that Rob Reiner would either produce or direct it.
• In order to shoot this thriller, Rob Reiner watched and studied every Alfred Hitchcock film. Reiner had Hitchcock on his mind so much, that James Caan overheard him on set one day chastising himself, saying, “Who do you think you are, Alfred Hitchcock?”
• Buster (Richard Farnsworth), the sheriff was a character made for the film and was never in the novel. He was created as a sort of amalgam of the different officers who visited Annie’s home in the book. They wanted Buster to be more proactive, so they gave him more deductive skills and more drive to find Paul.

• Rob Reiner noticed that Kathy Bates was getting more and more isolated as shooting progressed. He reminded her that she needed to leave Annie Wilkes behind when the work day was done.
• Before production began, Rob Reiner was asked if this was really the right project for him, considering he did mostly comedy up to this point. He responded, “It’s important for me to find my way into the film… and as you will see, the movie’s really about a man who is trapped by his own success and is desperately trying to break out and establish himself in a different way. I felt very much those feelings when ‘I finished All In The Family.’”
• James Caan accepted the part of Paul after Jack Nicholson turned it down. Ironically, Caan had previously turned down the lead role in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest that later went to Nicholson.
• 9 cameras were used for the car crash scene. They knew they wouldn’t be able to throw a car off of a cliff too many times, so they wanted to capture as many angles as they could.

• The film’s screenwriter, William Goldman was the one who suggested Kathy Bates for the role of Annie to Rob Reiner.
• Along with Jack Nicholson, the role of Paul was offered to Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Richard Dreyfuss, Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford, Denzel Washington, Mel Gibson, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, William Hurt, Kevin Kline, Al Pacino, Bill Murray, Jeff Daniels, Ed Harris, John Heard, Robert Klein, Ed O’Niell, and Bruce Willis. They all turned it down, but Willis actually played the part years later on the Broadway production.
• Bette Midler turned down the role of Annie because she considered the film too violent. She later called herself stupid for her decision. Anjelica Huston expressed interest in the part, but she had to decline due to her commitment to The Grifters. Jessica Lange, Mary Tyler Moore, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O’Donnell, Vickie Lawrence, and Barbara Streisand were also considered.
• Although Warren Beatty turned down the chance to be in the film, he actually helped with the possible plot holes regarding Paul’s efforts of escape. He told the filmmakers, “Pretend that it’s me, Warren Beatty, an intelligent person trapped in the bed. I would think of every possible way to get out of this house.” From there, they worked through all the various possibilities and made sure they blocked off those options from Paul.

• The filmmakers spent weeks getting Paul’s briefcase to look just right, making the exterior very faded and worn.
• For the scene where Paul crawled out of bed, the director of photography, Barry Sonnenfeld would spit on the floor to indicate where James Caan should crawl. Caan said to Sonnenfeld and Rob Reiner that this was the only film he ever worked on where someone was hocking his marks.
• Frances Sternhagan (Virginia) was also the voice talent for Delores Claiborne audio book.
• After filming wrapped, Richard Farnsworth gave Rob Reiner the hat that he wore in his first scene as Buster.

• James Caan later admitted he never read the book in preparation for this film.
• Carol Burnett was considered for the part of Marcia, Paul’s agent, before it went to Lauren Bacall.
• In Annie’s living room, you can see a picture of Paul meeting Elizabeth II. It’s a real picture of James Caan and the Queen taken at the premiere of Funny Lady.
• When Kathy Bates won the Oscar for her role in this film, she said in her speech, “I would like to thank Jimmy Caan, and apologize publicly for the ankles.”

• 20 years after writing Misery, Stephen King finally admitted the story was about his battle with substance abuse. Annie Wilkes represented his dependency on drugs, and what it did to his body, making him feel alone and separated from everything, while hobbling any attempts he made at escape. Paul’s own recovery from substance abuse and relapse due to Annie was in the novel, but cut from the film.
• In the novel, Annie cut off his left foot with an ax and then cauterized the stump with a propane torch to stop the blood loss. Because the filmmakers didn’t want so much gore, they changed it to where Annie broke his feet with a sledgehammer instead.
• Kathy Bates was disappointed that her character didn’t get to run over a police officer’s head with a lawnmower like she did in the book. Rob Reiner made the decision to cut the scene because he was afraid audiences would find it funny rather than horrifying.
• When James Caan watched the hobbling scene for the first time at a screening, he turned to Rob Reiner and said, “You’re a sick f**k.”

• In the novel, Paul only pretended to burn Misery’s Return and ended up publishing it after his rescue. Rob Reiner suspected that King did this because he himself feared what might happen if he didn’t supply his constant readers with the kinds of books they expect from him. So, Reiner changed it to where Paul destroyed the only copy of Misery’s Return, affirming his desire to move on to other things.
• Paul’s broken legs were made out of gelatin. Armatures with wires were inserted into the prosthetic ankles for the hobbling scene. When Annie hit them with the sledgehammer, the wires helped bend the ankles at the desired, gruesome angles. Holes were cut into the mattress so James Caan could hide his real legs up to the knees.
• Kathy Bates was so upset filming the violent scenes, she ended up crying after filming the hobbling scene and before the final fight scene.
• Rob Reiner has a cameo in the film as the helicopter pilot who flies over Annie’s house.