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 Secret Windows Production NotesSome windows should never be opened.
Based on Stephen King's novella "Four Past Midnight: Secret Window, Secret Garden", "Secret Window" is about a writer (Depp) going through a painful divorce, who is stalked by a psychotic stranger (Turturro) who claims the writer stole his story. To force the writer to make amends, the stranger will go to any lengths, including murder.
Though he knows he should be at his computer writing another book, or at least walking his dog along the sparkling lake outside his dingy cabin, successful author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) is sleeping on his favorite sofa for up to 16 hours a day. He is in the midst of a painful divorce and everything about the breakup has turned messy and unpleasant. It has sapped his energy and siphoned away his creativity, leaving him with a monumental case of writer's block that renders him incapable of even stringing a simple sentence together.
Then, when it seems as if things can't possibly get worse, a psychotic stranger named John Shooter (John Turturro) shows up at his doorstep, accuses Rainey of plagiarizing his story and demands satisfaction. Despite Rainey's efforts to placate him, Shooter becomes increasingly insistent and hostile, intimating a twisted sort of justice that could include cold-blooded murder.
Forced into a mind-bending game of cat and mouse, Rainey discovers that he has more cunningness and gritty determination than he ever imagined. In the end, he realizes that elusive Shooter may know him better than he knows himself.
Voyage to the Screen
Secret Window began its voyage to the screen when Columbia Pictures' executives became intrigued by Stephen King's suspense stunner Secret Window, Secret Garden part of the Four Past Midnight collection, which prompted one reviewer to write: "Four spell-binding tales of evil. These are can't-tear-your-eyes away stories that burn your imagination."
The studio approached writer/director David Koepp to adapt the novella to the screen, according to the film's producer Gavin Polone. Columbia Pictures has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Koepp that included his masterful screenplays for the recent hit films Spider-Man and Panic Room.
"King's novella was reminiscent of Stir of Echoes (one of Koepp's previous writing/directing efforts) because it's about a guy who seems to lose touch with reality," Polone says. "There were also similarities to the claustrophobic atmosphere of Panic Room, a thriller that essentially played out in one tiny room."
"I like 'guy-in-a-house-going-crazy' movies," laughs Koepp. "I enjoy the challenge of working out a story that takes place in a confined space. Even though there are some outdoor scenes, the story is really about Mort Rainey's (Johnny Depp) living space.
It's about somebody who's in a really bad place in his life where he is just spending way too much time alone at home. I wanted to explore the confinement and paranoia themes, which have always interested me. Confinement can be really scary, and having bad things happen in your living space can be truly unsettling."
King's tautly written novella also investigated the twin disasters of a prolific author undergoing a painful divorce and suffering from writer's block. Koepp, a successful, well-respected screenwriter, was able to bring an insider's perspective to the sometimes torturous process of writing. "I identify with Mort on some level because I'm familiar with his lifestyle," says Koepp. "Like many writers, he has a vivid internal life that he often has trouble expressing outwardly.
For instance, when I write, I'm usually in a room by myself, so I'm not used to interacting with many people. It can be difficult to make that change when you're so accustomed to living inside your own head. Then, John Shooter (John Turturro) shows up and Mort has somebody literally bursting through the door and that can be tough, especially because he is at a real emotional low point in his life."
Mort's affliction with writer's block only adds to his misery. "The process of writing is completely self-motivated," Koepp continues. "So if you're depressed, it's very hard to get up and work. The couch always looks so inviting.
We were careful to cast just the right couch for Mort. I tested all of them and personally napped on the one we ended up using because I don't know any writer who doesn't have a good nap couch."
Having input from a real writer, who was also the director, was a boon for Depp, who plays the tormented Mort. "David was very inspirational," Depp notes, adding that, from the start, he felt a kinship with Koepp, with whom he coincidentally shares the same birthday. Depp was further impressed that Koepp traveled all the way to the Caribbean - where Depp was playing the memorable rogue Captain Jack in The Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl - in order to woo him for the role of Mort Rainey.
What sold Depp on the part, however, was the quality of Koepp's writing. "What I remember most was reading the screenplay, getting 10-15 pages into it and thinking, wow, this is incredibly well-written. The dialogue is real and not forced, with an interesting train-of-thought quality to it. The situations felt true. As I kept reading, I got to the point where I was totally invested emotionally in Mort and his dilemma. And then, when I got to the ingenious plot twist, I was completely shocked. I really didn't see it coming, which is very satisfying for a reader and I knew it would be for audiences as well."
Depp says he has an affinity for writers. He befriended legendary journalist and raconteur Hunter S. Thompson while preparing to play him in Terry Gilliam's adaptation of Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Depp will portray another legendary scribe, J.M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, in the upcoming film Neverland.
"I think for anyone in the creative arts, but especially for a writer, your imagination is your best friend. It can also be your worst enemy if you are plagued by too much thought, an overload of information in your head. That's Morty's problem. He's definitely a recluse. He's uncomfortable around people and just wants to be left alone.
Unfortunately, he can't leave himself alone."
Koepp sensed that an actor like Depp would innately understand the character and wrote it specifically with him in mind. Before voyaging to the Caribbean, Koepp sat down and composed a letter to Depp. "I wrote that I was hoping to cast him in Secret Window, that he was the guy I thought about when creating this character. He's one of our great actors, so inventive and so different every time. I've found him totally accessible as an actor throughout his career.
There is an old saying that if you aim for the general, you hit nothing, but if you aim for the specific, you might hit the universal. That sums up the body of Johnny's work. He is very meticulous and he draws us in by finding little moments of truth and behavior that people recognize and identify with. Therefore, they ultimately identify with the character. His choices are spontaneous and often unconventional, but they always work.
He is also a completely fearless actor. In terms of this character in particular, it's rare to find a movie star who is as unafraid as Johnny is to play fear. Needless to say, I was thrilled when he agreed to take the part."
Koepp's good fortune continued throughout the casting process, he contends. "I feel incredibly lucky. We got everyone we wanted, and that rarely happens. Once all the actors had fallen into place, it was a great relief. It was like having a great car and all I had to do was drive it and try not to crash it into a tree."
Prominent among his casting coups was snaring John Turturro for the role of the insidious John Shooter. "I really wanted John because he's one of those actors who really becomes the part, who creates a fully realized, credible person. And that was especially important in the case of Shooter. Because John is such a chameleon, audiences can't always quite put their finger on him, which is great for Shooter - a man who shows up out of nowhere and has an intangible, mysterious quality about him," Koepp says.
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Johnny Depp in The Secret Window.