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As any good horror movie fan knows, Kathy Bates's performance in 1990's Misery, based on the Stephen King story by the same name, won her the Oscar for Best Actress. But what you probably didn't know before today was that there was almost another Oscar-winner in the film - the guy that won Best Supporting Actor for Sling Blade, Billy Bob Thornton.

Thornton revealed the truth to bates herself in a discussion between the actors published June 15 by Variety. Right at the top of the chat, Thornton told Bates that he had been cast in the film by director Rob Reiner, to which a shocked Bates responded "You did not." 

"I swear to God," said the Fargo and Bad Santa star, "Originally, Richard Farnsworth, who played the sheriff, had a deputy. I [auditioned for] Rob Reiner for it. And Rob said right in the room, 'You’re the guy. We can send everybody else home.' I was very excited."

Of course, we all know that Thornton didn't make it into the final cut - so what happened? Well, it's a story that involves that classic enemy of filmgoers - cut scenes - but one that highlights Reiner's care for the actors he works with.

"I got a call from Rob Reiner," begins Thornton, clarifying that "not many directors would do this," [..] "He called me and he said, 'Listen, I’ve been looking at the script and been planning out what I’m going to do with this movie.' He said, 'You can come up here and shoot this for the money or the insurance or whatever you need, but I’m just telling you, it’s not going to be in the movie.'"

Ouch. Whether or not Thornton knew that the film would be considered one of the great Stephen King adaptations in history at that moment, we imagine that news still had to sting.

"He said," Thornton continued, "'I don’t want you to come up here expecting that this is going to be in the movie. And I didn’t want you to be disappointed.' He said, 'But I’ll leave it up to you. Do you want to come shoot it anyway?' And I said, 'No.' I thought that was very cool of him."

Very cool indeed. It's not every director that would take the time to even make that call, much less stick to the promise made to the actor getting it. Still, we wouldn't hate a future in which Thornton got the chance to tackle a role in that story, maybe even in a stage version?

You know what they say about good luck and breaking legs.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." We couldn't agree more, which is why we've cobbled together a couple pieces to send a chill up your spine. Join Popverse as we explore:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.