When Mike Flanagan opted to adapt Stephen King’s short story The Life Of Chuck, to the big screen, King himself wasn’t even sure if it would work. “His initial responses to me were a little like, ‘Oh, okay. Yeah. If you think that’s a movie…,’” Flanagan told Vanity Fair. Flanagan was so dedicated, he decided to produce the film independent of a studio, and thus The Life Of Chuck really came to life — thanks to a particularly impressive dance sequence.
In The Life Of Chuck, Flanagan tells the story of Chuck in reverse chronological order, and it is revealed that dancing is a huge part of the accountant’s life ahead of his retirement. This made it important for the movie, too, which is why Flanagan was set on getting noted good dancer Tom Hiddleston involved.
Flanagan was shown a clip of Hiddleston’s lively moves which prompted him to cast the actor instead of someone unknown. “He had a completely unfiltered joy on his face,” Flanagan told the outlet. “He was a good dancer, but that wasn’t what struck me. I wasn’t amazed by the technique so much as the degree of happiness that was radiating off of him. The look on his face made me smile the same way I smiled reading that particular portion of the book.”
Hiddleston didn’t just waltz onto set, he was dedicated to his dancing role, and took months to prepare. “I had to learn in six weeks the full regime of any dance training. We did jazz, swing, salsa, cha-cha, the Charleston, bossa nova, polka, quickstep, samba. We were trying to tip our hat to anything that might have influenced Chuck,” he added. “It might’ve had a bit of Gene Kelly or Fred and Ginger. Certainly moonwalking—Stephen King is very specific about the moonwalk.” Hiddleston has really improved since that fateful night of dancing that led to a relationship with Taylor Swift.
In the end, Hiddleston’s hard work paid off. “I burned holes in my shoes,” Hiddleston says. “I was dancing out on the asphalt in Alabama, and by the time we’d finished, you could see my socks through the soles.” Just another reason to invest in a Mama Mia threequel.
Flanagan has previously called the film “a tenacious little miracle of a movie from the start,” and even King had kinder words after he saw a cut of the film. Dancing really can heal the world…maybe.
The Life Of Chuck premieres at TIFF on September 6th.