Whether it's working on a classic Stephen King movie or one of his more frowned-upon
films, getting involved with the King of Horror can make a star, revive a career, or give
an actor a new perspective.
From helpful psychics to horrified housewives, these King roles changed these actors forever.
Carrie was the first screen adaptation of a Stephen King story, and it remains one of
the most iconic.
The film launched several careers, but the person who owes the most to the movie is Sissy
Spacek.
The movie almost single-handedly turned her into a celebrity.
Spacek first drew attention in Terrence Malick's Badlands, but still wasn't quite a star yet
when the movie was released in 1973.
Hearing that Stephen King's Carrie was getting adapted for a movie, Spacek used her familiarity
with the book to her advantage and auditioned for the title role.
The director had another actress in mind, but Spacek's audition was so good that it
blew everyone else out of the water.
The role earned Spacek popular acclaim and an Oscar nomination… but maybe it's a good
thing that she didn't actually win.
The last time she was onstage receiving an honor, things got a little freaky.
Anthony Michael Hall was one of the biggest young stars of the 1980s.
A regular actor for teen movie director John Hughes, a veteran of the Vacation franchise,
and a brief cast member of Saturday Night Live, his career seemed bulletproof.
Then came the '90s and Hall's career seriously tapered off.
He spent most of the decade doing guest TV appearances and showing up in less-successful
movies.
Hall was at a professional low point in 2001.
He co-starred in Freddy Got Fingered and critics had some pretty harsh things to say about
the film.
"It sucks!"
A year later, he managed to snag the lead role in a TV show based on Stephen King's
book, The Dead Zone.
For six seasons, Hall played the part of Johnny Smith, a man who wakes up from a coma with
psychic powers.
During its run, The Dead Zone was one of the highest-rated shows on basic cable.
After years of misses, Hall had a hit again, and he's credited The Dead Zone with turning
his career around.
If Shelley Duvall's performance as a woman driven to the edge of sanity in The Shining
seems like an authentic depiction of terror, it's because it is.
Director Stanley Kubrick was a noted perfectionist and his demanding style made her very emotional
on set.
One shot famously took 127 takes, allegedly in part because Kubrick wanted to push Duvall
to the point of breaking down.
Even though shooting the film was, by all accounts, a horrible experience, Duvall's
performance was so memorable, she soon became a very well-known actor.
She told People magazine in 1981...
"When somebody recognizes you at a Dairy Queen in Texas, you're a star."
After the torturous atmosphere of The Shining, Duvall was more than happy to star opposite
the kind-hearted Robin Williams in her next role, that of Olive Oyl in Robert Altman's
Popeye.
Not many films can boast a cast like Stand by Me.
Fewer films can claim to be the starting point for no less than four successful acting careers.
Based on Stephen King's novella The Body, Stand by Me tells the story of four boys searching
for a corpse in the woods.
And the four kids in question were played by new teenage actors Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell,
Corey Feldman, and River Phoenix.
As for Wil Wheaton, Stand By Me was his first major movie role, and he'd join the cast of
Star Trek: The Next Generation soon after.
He's since gone on to become something of a geek icon, epitomized by playing a version
of himself on The Big Bang Theory.
It was also the first movie role of Jerry O'Connell, who would go on to a solid acting
career on stage and screen, with perhaps his most prominent role being in the cast of the
sci-fi show Sliders.
Corey Feldman was the most established star in Stand by Me, having already appeared in
Gremlins and The Goonies, but he continued to be extremely successful for the rest of
the decade.
Although his career peaked in the '80s, Feldman had already amassed an impressive body of
work and definitely made the most of his time in the spotlight.
"I'm in the prime of my youth, and I'll only be young once!"
"Yeah, but you're gonna be stupid for the rest of your life."
And, of course, there's River Phoenix, whose work in the film helped sell it to wary distributors.
Coming out of this movie, he was pegged as the "next big thing."
He acted in several high-profile movies, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and My
Own Private Idaho, before his tragic death by overdose at the young age of 23.
Although more experienced than many of his fellow cast members, Stand by Me also featured
a breakout performance from another fresh face, Kiefer Sutherland, who would become
a major star just a year later with his role in The Lost Boys.
Morgan Freeman, the actor, is a huge star, but Morgan Freeman, the voice, is arguably
even more well-known.
As a performer, his calm but authoritative demeanor has seen him play everyone from a
humble chauffeur in Driving Miss Daisy to God himself in Bruce Almighty.
As a narrator, he's voiced over everything from Oscar-winning documentaries like March
of the Penguins to the Discovery Channel's Curiosity.
And his career as a voiceover artist can be traced back to a Stephen King role the inmate
Red in The Shawshank Redemption.
Based on a novella from the King collection Different Seasons, the 1994 film had Freeman
pulling double duty.
Not only was he one of the main characters, he was also narrated the entire movie and
delivered some of its most iconic lines.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it is in my dreams…
I hope."
While The Shawshank Redemption bombed financially in theaters, it picked up a second life on
TV and in the rental market, eventually becoming a massively beloved film for fans around the
world.
Many years later, Freeman was a guest on Graham Norton's talk show and he poked a little fun
at his reputation as a master of narration.
"I hope people stop asking me to do stupid voiceovers.
I hope."
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about your favorite actors are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.