FanExpo 2014: The Shining Twins Talk Life after Kubrick
Louise and Lisa Burns, twin sisters renowned for their iconic roles as the eerie little girls from the horror staple The Shining, are a surprisingly lovely duo considering that their childhood fame comes from fueling people’s nightmares.
The women appeared at FanExpo 2014 this weekend to discuss where they’ve been since their prolific – and only – roles. They were careful not to dress the same for their Q&A panel, showing off a style picturesque for older British ladies. It’s clear that the sisters have aged with grace, and never lost their sisterly bond along the way. Going back to their origins of landing the roles of the Grady Twins, Lisa talked about her childhood goal to be an actor, prompting their parents to hire an agent. When auditioning for a new Stanley Kubrick film, their father advised, “don’t be disappointed if you don’t get the part”, advice that would become a moot point.
However, with their dream of acting achieved so young, the girls felt little need to continue their careers. Louise admitted that they “sadly went back to normal lives” and were encouraged by their parents to pursue schooling instead of stardom. Although due to the controversial status of Kubrick at the time from his other films, Lolita and A Clockwork Orange, they admit that their parents’ worry made sense.
The women also took some time to talk about fear, and the legacy of The Shining in the world of horror. “I feel bad for scaring people.” confesses Lisa, also sharing that despite her fair share of time scaring people, she has her own fears too: “We’re afraid of heights.” – which would, understandably, rule out a trip to the CN Tower during their visit in Toronto. However, they’ve gladly embraced their fandom and the legacy that their roles and The Shining has had on the world. “People dress up like us, and have tattoos of us, and there’s art of us on Etsy.” gushed Louise. “It just makes me go, ‘wow!’. There’s people doing this who were born long after The Shining was made, and this movie still holds something for them.” A fan then asked about Room 237, a documentary about the various conspiracy theories behind the making of the film. Lisa remarked about one of the film’s theories regarding the supposed faking of the 1969 moon landing. She asserted that with her experience making films, she thinks that “It would probably cost more to fake the moon landing and do cover-ups than it would to just go to the moon.” But she went on to still applaud the imagination of Shining fans, pointing out how poignant the story must have been for inspiring so many different interpretations.
Moving on to discuss their memories of working on the film, both women added their own two cents to the highly polarizing reports of working with Stanley Kubrick. “He was very bear-like.” Louise explained, “And like an uncle, a very genuine man. He encouraged us.” Although Lisa claimed that neither of them could quite remember how many takes they had to do during their screentime as the twins – a tease to Kubrick’s infamy for being a perfectionist and doing countless takes. Despite the decades between them and their time as actresses, the girls still know how to work an audience. The girls even flaunted their bravery by sharing their feelings about seeing Jack Nicholson on set when prompted by a fan asking: “He wasn’t scary” – hats off for being possibly the only people that think that way, ladies!
Check out Jen; she got to come play with the twins! (NOW GET BACK TO WORK)
The panel wrapped up with a brief discussion about fashion, in which the girls admitted that they’re unaware of the ultimate fate of their costumes from the film. Lisa shared that “We were offered the dresses, but said no, because we didn’t like wearing them.” – even at age 12, their fashion sense was on point. Louise chimed in with a joke, “We were wearing stuff that we wouldn’t be caught dead in, then had to be filmed dead in it!”
As of 2015, The Shining will turn 35 years old, and the ladies concluded by mentioning a possible cast reunion for it. What we wouldn’t give to be there for that!
