Shelley Duvall remembered by Long Island filmmaker Scott Goldberg, who cast 'The Shining' star in her final movie

Shelley Duvall, who died Thursday at her home in Blanco, Texas, at age 75, became a screen icon under such directors as Robert Altman (“Thieves Like Us,” “Nashville,” “Popeye”) and Stanley Kubrick (“The Shining”). But when she chose to make her return to acting after two decades, it was with a Long Island filmmaker and his independent feature “The Forest Hills” (2023).

It would prove to be her final bow. Glen Cove writer-director Scott Goldberg, who filmed her over the course of four days at her and her longtime partner Dan Gilroy’s home, reminisced to Newsday after her death that, “On the final shooting day, I held her hand and said, ‘Thank you so much for being a part of this. I'm a huge fan and really appreciate everything.’ And it was a little intimidating looking into her eyes, because her eyes are so beautiful. She’s such a kind soul, and you can see that in her eyes.”

In Goldberg’s psychological horror-thriller, filmed in Deer Park, the Mount Sinai/Port Jefferson area, his alma mater Glen Cove High School and upstate New York, Duvall plays Mama in flashbacks and visions suffered by her son Rico (Chiko Mendez). Dee Wallace and Edward Furlong also appear in the film, an early version of which screened at Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre on March 12, 2023. It is slated for release in October.

Duvall, whom Goldberg met through reaching out to Gilroy, was “interested in remote-directing technology and how it has advanced since she retired from film,” said the filmmaker, 42, who directed her remotely for two days and in person two days. “One of the crew members held up an iPhone and we were discussing and going over the scenes through FaceTime. She mentioned how it was fun to be remotely directed and it was a new experience for her.”

To ease her back into acting, Goldberg at first used only a two-person crew for what was initially conceived as a cameo appearance of Duvall speaking to her character's son in visions. “And as she got finished with that initial filming, she expressed an interest to work with someone on camera,” he recalled. “So I came up with scenes and sequences that I felt could best fit her into the story” opposite Mendez and, as a doctor who diagnoses her, cult-film star Felissa Rose (1983’s “Sleepaway Camp”).

She felt comfortable enough with him, Goldberg said, that she and Gilroy “showed me Christmas postcards they would receive from Paul Reubens, who played Pee-wee Herman,” and who was a fan. “And just hearing stories about her involvement with Hollywood people like Jack Nicholson. She always mentioned Robert Altman. She even was OK with talking about ‘The Shining,’ ” a notoriously difficult shoot for her.

“She overcame adversity, coming back into acting,” Goldberg said. “And I'm happy she was able to give it one final hurrah.”