“The Shining” star Shelley Duvall is back after being out of the Hollywood spotlight for two decades.
Duvall spoke about making her big return to the big screen in the upcoming horror film, “The Forest Hills.”
“Acting again — it’s so much fun. It enriches your life,” Duvall said during an interview with People Magazine.
Jessica Tandy “won an Oscar when she was 80. I can still win.”
Shelley Duvall returns to the screen in the upcoming horror film “The Forest Hills” after remaining out of the Hollywood spotlight for two decades. (Digital Thunderdome)
The 73-year-old actress last appeared in the 2002 independent film “Manna from Heaven.”
Duvall reminisced about how her life changed at age 18 when she was spotted at an art opening and asked to audition for her first movie.
Shelley Duvall in a scene from the film “3 Women” in 1977. (Getty Images)
In 1970, she co-starred in Richard Altman’s comedy “Brewster McCloud.” After starring in two more films, Duvall decided to make acting her career, she told the outlet.
‘THE SHINING’S’ CREEPY ‘JULY 4TH BALL 1921’ PHOTO TURNS 100 – AND TWITTER NOTICED
“After ‘Thieves Like Us,’ Robert [Altman] looked at me and said, ‘I knew you were good, but I didn’t know you were great,'” Duvall said with tears in her eyes.
“It’s the reason I stuck with it and became an actress.”
Duvall first became known for her memorable portrayals of quirky characters, including Millie Lammoreaux in the 1977 drama “Three Women” and Olive Oyl in the 1980 live-action “Popeye” movie.
“All it took was to put on the costume, and I knew exactly how to play Olive,” Duvall noted.
A terrified Shelley Duvall in “The Shining” in 1980. (Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
She shot to international fame when she starred as Wendy Torrance in “The Shining,” Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel.
Duvall admitted she has no problem watching herself on screen.
“On one channel there is ‘Popeye’ and another one ‘The Shining.’ Boy, those are two different films. … But in a way, it’s like, ‘Gosh, I was great.'”
Jack Nicholson, Danny Lloyd and Shelley Duvall on the set of “The Shining.” (Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
The ‘70s and ‘80s film icon confessed it wasn’t easy making a living acting in Hollywood.
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“You didn’t get paid much — just scale plus 10%. They thought women would just marry and the husband’s going to support them. But that doesn’t happen for everybody,” she remarked.
Becoming Hollywood’s “unconventional It girl” at the time, she dated celebrities, including Paul Simon and Ringo Starr.
Actress Shelley Duvall and musician Paul Simon leave a theater after seeing Broadway hit “The Gin Game” in 1977. (Bettmann)
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Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Shelley Duvall at Heathrow Airport in London. (PA Images via Getty Images)
After announcing her retirement in 2002, Duvall moved back to her home state of Texas and stayed out of the public eye.
Once she discovered her brother was diagnosed with spinal cancer, she said it was “really important” for her to “get in touch with my family again.”
Duvall’s new movie “The Forest Hills” is slated to premiere March 11 at a theater in New Jersey owned by Kevin Smith.
Fox News Digital’s Ashley Hume contributed to this report.
