Kathy Bates prepares to break James Caan’s ankles in the 1990 film ‘Misery’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

If you’ve seen the horror film Misery, which opened 25 years ago this November, chances are one scene is burned into your brain: the moment when Annie Wilkes breaks the ankles of bedridden novelist Paul Sheldon with a sledgehammer. It’s the most memorable and disturbing moment of the 1990 film, based on a Stephen King novel — and yet, from the moment Misery went into production, the hobbling scene was incredibly divisive, costing the film a director and several potential stars. Based on existing reporting and new interviews, here’s an in-depth look at how Misery’s scariest moment came to be, complete with rare behind-the-scenes photos. [Warning: 25-year-old spoilers ahead.]

Based on King’s 1987 novel of the same name, Misery tells the story of a successful but disgruntled romance novelist, Paul Sheldon (James Caan), who has just written the final book in his series about a heroine named Misery Chastain and plans to leave the romance genre behind. [Update: The novel was already completed at the start of the film.] During a blizzard, Paul crashes his car and is rescued by a cheerful loner named Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who calls herself his “biggest fan” and sets about nursing him back to health. However, things take a turn once Annie discovers that Paul has killed off his character Misery — and Paul discovers, in turn, that his caretaker has a very dark past. Annie holds Paul hostage in her isolated home, forcing him to write a new novel in which the heroine survives. The iconic ankle-smashing scene (watch it below) arrives when Annie realizes that Paul is plotting an escape. After drugging him and strapping him to his bed, she calmly tells Paul about the practice of “hobbling,” once used in African diamond mines on workers who tried to run off with the goods. As Paul begs for mercy, she wedges a piece of wood between his legs and picks up a sledgehammer, assuring Paul, “It’s for the best.” Then she brings down the hammer and breaks his ankles in two swift strokes. “God, I love you,” she purrs as he writhes in agony. (By the end of the movie, Paul recovers just enough mobility to get his revenge, bashing in Annie’s head with a typewriter and a metal pig statue.)

Watch the disturbing hobbling scene from ‘Misery.’

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When producer-director Rob Reiner approached his Princess Bride collaborator William Goldman to work on Misery, it was the novel’s hobbling scene that hooked the screenwriter. “I could not f—ing believe it,” Goldman wrote in his book Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade. “I mean, I knew she wasn’t going to tickle him with a peacock feather, but I never dreamt such behavior was possible. And I knew I had to write the movie.”

However, the chapter that floored Goldman is rather different than the scene in the final film. In King’s version, Annie doesn’t break Paul’s ankles: She chops off his left foot with an axe, then cauterizes the wound with a propane torch. What Goldman didn’t realize is that his Misery collaborators weren’t as enthusiastic about the foot-chopping scene as he was. Originally, Reiner hired director George Roy Hill (The Sting) to helm the film, which Reiner would produce under his Castle Rock banner. Then, out of the blue, Hill pulled out. According to Goldman, the director’s explanation was, “I was up all night. And I just could not hear myself saying, ‘Action!’ on that scene.”

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Rob Reiner directs Kathy Bates and James Caan in ‘Misery’ (Photo: Everett Collection)

Hill’s refusal to direct what he called the “lopping scene” was a deal breaker for Goldman and Reiner, the latter of whom decided to direct Misery himself. But Hill had planted a seed of doubt in his mind. In the weeks that followed, said Goldman, Reiner took an informal survey of everyone at Castle Rock, calling Goldman with updates like, “A good day for the hobblers today, three secretaries said leave it alone.” Meanwhile, the scene was interfering with casting. Bette Midler turned down the role of Annie, a decision she later told the New York Times was “stupid,” because she “didn’t want to saw off someone’s foot.” Warren Beatty was initially very interested in playing Paul, according to Goldman, but he expressed his concerns about the hobbling scene to the production team. “Beatty’s point was this: He had no trouble losing his feet at the ankles, but know that if you did that the guy would be crippled for life and would be a loser,” Goldman wrote.