How many actors are trending on social media decades after they’ve retired from film?
Shelley Duvall in 2002 Manna from HeavenBut she still managed to accomplish such a feat.
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Video and Audio Popeye The star, who died on Thursday aged 75, began a second life on TikTok last year, after his soft, upbeat introduction on the TV show became the background music for a plethora of fashion videos on the platform.
The original video for this trend is Fairy Tale Theateris a children’s anthology television series that Duvall created and hosted from 1982 to 1987. The series aired on Showtime and featured the actress introducing herself at the beginning of each episode, preparing the audience for the evening’s entertainment. The show featured an all-star guest cast playing various fairy tale characters, including Robin Williams, Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Goldblum, Matthew Broderick, Alan Arkin, James Earl Jones, Leonard Nimoy, Helen Mirren, Christopher Reeve, and Elliott Gould.
Sarah, a social media user who runs the Shelley Duvall Archive fan accounts on X, TikTok and Instagram, Fairy Tale Theater He introduced himself to the actress during a 2020 visit and posted it on TikTok in 2021.
In most versions of the trend, users edit a video of themselves wearing five different outfits, then switch between them while Duvall repeatedly says, “Hello, I’m Shelley Duvall.”
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The track was recorded by TikTok user LauvSongs and features Duval Fairy Tale Theater The introduction features a strong rock instrumental behind her voice. Though the remix audio was originally posted in December 2021, the outfit trend really took off in March 2023, and has been used in over 160,000 videos to date.
But even before the TikTok trend began, supercut versions of Duvall’s greetings have been around, with viewers mesmerized by the actress’ repetition of the line in every episode of the children’s series.
These supercuts include: The Shining The actress speaks the same four words over and over again, but in its simplicity it captures much of what makes Duvall such a captivating presence on screen: Duvall’s flawless introduction immediately welcomes the audience to the show with a soothing, sing-song quality, and watching them back-to-back reveals an almost absurd consistency in the actress’ performance, including the exact same pause between the first two words, making them nearly indistinguishable aurally.
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Of course, the repeated clip of “Hello, I’m Shelley Duvall” lends itself to a costume supercut because the original video footage juxtaposes footage of Duvall delivering a similar line with completely different footage. Fairy Tale TheaterIn the film, Duvall treats viewers to entirely new environments, with a variety of camera maneuvers capturing her appearances, and, perhaps most importantly, looks absolutely stunning in a ridiculously wide variety of unconventional outfits — an elegant expression of the actress’s charming, quirky fashion sense, both on and off screen.
The simplicity of these videos offers a glimpse into what made Duvall such an unusual actor. She was always sweet and charming, yet radiated a unique, otherworldly beauty whenever she was in front of the camera. There was an innate warmth and ease about her that couldn’t be taught or trained. Though not necessarily a born actor, she was comfortable delivering unconventional performances that allowed audiences to embrace the virtuosity and playful quirkiness of her films.
