- Done. Cast.

- We agree the cast is not perfect right now.

- I have a lot of explaining to do.

You would watch that.

- I would fully - You would watch that.

(dramatic music)

- Welcome to "Recast," I'm Mike Scolins.

- And I'm Ally Hord.

- And today we are recasting "The Shining."

- "The Shining."

- So tell me about your experience

with the original "Shining."

- My older brother showed it to me

when my parents weren't home,

as we did with most horror movies or R-rated movies.

- Way too young?

- Way too young.

I was terrified.

The carpet pattern scared me.

- This is the movie that I've seen

more than any movie on Earth.

- It's your favorite movie.

- It's my favorite movie.

I've stayed at the hotel where they shot it.

- Really?

- Read the book several times.

- The exterior hotel.

- Yes, the one in Oregon.

- Oregon.

- Yeah.

- So we're picking a new cast for this movie,

so let's get into it.

First off, Jack Torrance,

previously played by Jack Nicholson,

now played by Nicolas Cage.

- That's so interesting, okay,

'cause you know he's going to make some wide swing choices.

- Oh I bet you could put him in front of the camera

and just like not even tell him it's a film.

- You'd just be like "it's an abandoned hotel, go nuts."

- He could play Danny, you know.

- He could play Danny.

- He could play the entire cast.

- He's so good, and he's so intense,

and he's also like a genuinely good actor.

- Yeah, and I think he would be funny in a way, too,

which I think is important.

- Yes, yes, he would enjoy like

the directors like "all right, give me a 10,"

and he would give you a 15.

- Right.

- [Mike] And it would work.

- [Ally] I went in a different direction.

I went a little younger.

I went Adam Driver.

- [Mike] Ooh.

- Here me out.

He can play a happier, gentle, warm father as we've seen,

but he also make very weird, sometimes deeply scary choices.

- [Mike] Like every episode of the "Girls."

- [Ally] Like every episode of "Girls."

I saw him in that play, "Burn This," on Broadway.

He made some very weird choices, in a good way,

it paid off.

Could have been really bad,

but I think he's another person you could put

in front of the camera and be like

"You call it, you call it.

What do you want to do with this take,"

you know and he's make some crazy choices.

- I still think my wins.

I think yours is very good.

- I will say I was thinking for a new generation

to be introduced to the piece,

but it sounds like you're just trying

to remake it for the same audience.

That's what I'll say for Adam Driver as a choice.

- That is tough, but fair.

Can I please have this one?

- Oh this is a fair way to decide.

Please it's my favorite movie.

Okay fine, Nicolas Cage just because I also agree

he would be very entertaining to watch.

- [Mike] Okay great, I got this one.

- [Ally] Oh God, I am a softy.

All right.

- [Mike] Danny Torrance.

This one was hard because I don't know child actors.

- [Ally] Right, and the actor

in the original movie was five.

- [Mike] So I picked this guy for one very specific reason,

and it's because he's the only child I could think of,

"Young Sheldon."

His real name is Iain Armitage.

- Yeah, I can see that.

I mean he's pretty standard you know

comb-backed-hair little boy.

- [Mike] Yeah and he also seems like

a little bit socially awkward.

He could be frightened by some ghosts.

- [Ally] Yeah, okay.

I see that you just picked the first boy

that came up on your Google search,

so I'm going to counter that with our Archie Yates,

who is the round-faced little adorable British boy

from "Jojo Rabbit."

And he is going to be the next Kevin McCallister

in the next "Home Alone" reboot,

so if we agree that we could sort of age Danny up,

I think he would just be sort of a really sweet,

roly-poly little innocent kid who gets absolutely terrified

by what he sees in the hotel.

And I think,

- you know, - I may easily give

- this one to you.

- Yeah, okay, okay.

I didn't even have to beg.

(both laughing)

- [Mike] For the other reason that you did your research.

Also that kid's fantastic.

- [Ally] He's fantastic.

- [Mike] All right, we're tied one-one.

- [Ally] Okay.

- [Mike] Wendy Torrance.

- [Ally] This is tough 'cause Shelley Duvall is a

- [Mike] Had a rough go of it.

- [Ally] Rough go of it on set with the director,

but also such a unique look and performance.

- [Mike] Okay, I picked Laura Dern.

- [Ally] Hmm.

- [Mike] And I think if you cast Laura Dern in anything

people are like, "Well yeah, that's who it should be."

- She's such a strong character,

and she's also very tall.

- You can't cast a tall person, you're right.

- She's just cast always as a confident bad ass,

so I feel like she could take Nicolas Cage so easily.

- But Laura Dern can do anything you throw at her.

- Yeah, yeah, okay.

So Laura Dern.

Well I went in a very different direction.

I want with Alia Shawkat.

Oh, you have a rhetorical yeah, yeah, yeah.

- She's fantastic, but age-wise I feel like

you're casting The CW's version of "The Shining."

- Excuse me for wanting to introduce this

to a new generation.

You're just trying to please like yourself,

and the same generation that was into "The Shining."

- Okay.

- Look she's too young to be Archie Yates's mom.

What if this is his second marriage,

and she's trying to get in good with his kid as a stepmom

so they're very close and she puts a lot of time into him,

and she's his only protection against his biological father

who has gone crazy.

- Okay I like this.

Now we're recasting and rewriting though,

which I think is a slightly different show.

- It is a light suspension of disbelief, you're right.

- If there's one thing we've know from "The Shining,"

it is that Stephen King does not like his stuff

being rewritten.

- Excuse me, it was a very successful horror movie,

and he hated it.

- It's a masterpiece, he's totally wrong.

Okay, I'm gonna give you Alia Shawkat

because I really like her and I like that rewrite.

- I think she'll do this horror great,

and I think she could just be really great

alone I a big hotel all like trying

to find her own way, too.

But yeah, Alia Shawkat and Nicolas Cage

cannot be married in "The Shining."

- Well it's too late, they are.

- [Ally] Okay.

- [Mike] Finally, Dick Hallorann,

famously played by Scatman Crothers.

He's fantastic, does not survive the film.

He does in the book.

- [Ally] Interesting.

- [Mike] Yes.

For me I have, and I think this one is very good,

Snoop Dogg.

- [Ally] Interesting, okay.

- Snoop Dogg has done horror before.

He's so good in "Bones" in 2001.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And like you said, he does comedy as well.

If anyone really has "The Shining"

in real life it's Snoop Dogg.

- I think that' just 'cause he's high all the time.

- Right, like he could like speak to a child

through brain waves.

- [Ally] I think that's a really fun pick, actually.

- [Mike] Thank you.

- I think he would do a great job.

I had Andre De Shields.

You might know him from "Hadestown,"

but he was also in the "Sack Lunch Bunch"

that John Mulaney did as the guy

who sings about algebra to kids.

He teaches them about math.

- Okay, I'm gonna have to say mine is better

'cause I don't know who you're talking about.

- Fair argument.

I'll let you go with this one, with Snoop Dogg.

I think he would be really great.

Let's take a look then at our cast

'cause it now seems very weird and uneven.

- "The Shining's" a crazy movie.

It works that we have.

- But you would believe that Shelley Duvall

and Jack Nicholson were married in like Denver.

You would believe that.

- Yes.

- And now we're expected to believe that

- Nicolas Cage. - Alia Shawkat

- Would be Nicolas Cage's daughter.

- We agree the cast is not perfect right now.

- It's uneven.

- It's uneven.

- What if, what if,

if we're okay with slight rewrites,

what if they're just both his kids,

and he takes them along to the hotel

and they're just both his kids.

And he's daughter's back from college

to help him out for the summer.

- Oh.

- What if that is how we justify this

so all the red carpet interviews

are not so awkward for Nicolas Cage and Alia Shawkat.

(both laughing)

- All right, great.

And honestly, like that's a problem on the day

for whoever's shooting this film.

We're just casting.

- Yeah, I'm also assuming Archie Yates

can do an American accent,

'cause then I have a lot of explaining to do.

(both laughing)

- One of my children.

- That's gonna be a publicist's job, not ours.

Okay so, our final cast is

- [Ally] Yes.

- [Mike] Nicolas Cage as Jack Torrance.

- [Ally] Yes.

- [Mike] Archie Yates as Danny.

Wendy Torrance is also your pick.

- [Ally] Alia Shawkat, yeah.

- [Mike] Alia Shawkat.

And Dick Hollorann is my pick of Snoop.

- Yeah, you know, I think it would be

really interesting to see a movie

where it was like an exclusive corps of casting

where all the casting directors didn't know

who else the other casting directors were picking,

and they all just

- Well all got like on page - Showed up on set on day one.

- Of the breakdown.

- Yeah, yeah.