Robin Williams was one of the most beloved actors in Hollywood, who was known more for his comedic roles. Films such as Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, and Mrs. Doubtfire have featured the actor and Williams’ presence has made them certified classics. The late actor was also known for his dramatic roles in films such as Good Will Hunting, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

While Williams initially started his career with comedic roles, a rumor made the rounds that the actor was considered for the sinister role of Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. While Jack Nicholson ended up playing the role, Williams was rumored to have been considered by Kubrick before seeing him in Mork & Mindy. However, Lee Unkrich’s new book on the film reportedly debunked the rumor and mentioned that Williams had no chance.

Robin Williams Was Rumored To Be Considered For The Part of Jack Torrance In The Shining

Robin Williams in Insomnia

Based on the horror novel by Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining has been often considered to be one of the greatest modern masterpieces. The film has been an inseparable part of pop culture, with many of the artifacts and elements in the film being parodied or referenced in multiple other media.

However, Stephen King was reportedly not a fan of the film and did not reportedly approve of Jack Nicholson’s casting. According to The Intellectual Devotional, King did not want Nicholson to play the role as it would be very obvious for the audience to predict Jack going insane. The author was reportedly given that impression after seeing his performance in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Robin Williams in Mork & Mindy
A rumor made the rounds that Stanley Kubrick briefly considered Robin Williams for the role of Jack Torrance in The Shining. While the film was in development in the late 1970s, Williams was gaining fame for his role as the lovable alien in Mork & Mindy. According to Slash Film, Kubrick came close to hiring Robin Williams but rejected him after watching an episode of the sitcom.

The rumor also claimed that Kubrick deemed Robin Williams as “too psychotic” for the character. While Williams has gone on to play actually deranged characters in films such as One Hour Photo and Insomnia, the actor was still sticking to his comedic roots back in the day. The Shining has gone on to be one of the best films in Jack Nicholson’s filmography.

New Book On The Shining Debunks Robin Williams Rumor

Jack Nicholson in The Shining

Author Stephen King reportedly wanted to cast a good-guy actor such as Jon Vought or Michael Moriarty as it would make Jack’s gradual descent to madness more sinister and thrilling (via The Intellectual Devotional). However, Stanley Kubrick seemed to have been heading in another direction. While the filmmaker chose Jack Nicholson, he was rumored to have briefly considered Robin Williams for the role in The Shining.

However, this trivia has now been debunked in animator and Oscar-winning filmmaker Lee Unkrich’s book Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The book mentions that when Kubrick was working on the film, Robin Wiliams was just twenty-five years old and was still unknown, which would not have worked for the filmmaker as he was in dire need of a hit.

“Besides being far too young for the part of Jack Torrance (Nicholson was 40), Stanley Kubrick would never had considered an unknown to star in The Shining. After the box-office disappointment of his previous film, Barry Lyndon, Kubrick was sorely in need of a hit, and he chose The Shining in an attempt to make a more commercial film.” 

Lee Unkrich also mentioned that the director wanted to work with Jack Nicholson and had even tried to collaborate with the Chinatown star on his infamous unmade Napolean biopic. Nicholson reportedly contacted the Full Metal Jacket filmmaker about the horror film when Kubrick offered him the role.