But directorRob Reinerdid make a key change from the originalStephen Kingnovel on which the 1990 film is based.
As a former nurse, she handles the operation with medical meticulousness and cauterizes the wounds with a blowtorch.
However, Reiner thought Sheldon should be merely badly injured, not permanently maimed.
James Caan as Paul Sheldon in ‘Misery’.Credit: Merrick Morton/Columbia Pictures
Annie “hobbles” Paul, using a sledgehammer to crush the bones in his ankles.
“It wasnt because I wanted it to be less gruesome,” he told TCM host Dave Karger.
“He goes through this whole experience of being essentially tortured and jailed by this number one fan.
Kathy Bates and James Caan in ‘Misery’.Snap/Shutterstock
Hes written this other book, which she makes him burn.”
“Everybody said you shouldnt have to lose something after youve learned something,” she reflected.
“I didnt feel that way at all.
Because I thought it was so beautiful.”
“It was like being the nurse scalpel, cauterize, the whole thing,” she added.
“It had a beautiful poetic progression.”
Um, sure, Kathy Bates, if you say so.
She did win an Oscar for her performance, after all.
Rob Reiner and Kathy Bates at the 2025 TCM Classic Film Festival.Jesse Grant/Getty
