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The concept for "Unbreakable" stemmed from questions about his own destiny that Shyamalan began asking himself at the age of seventeen. Raised in a family of twelve doctors, including both his mother and father, Shyamalan graduated Cum laude and, having received scholarships to several prestigious medical programs seemed destined for a life in medicine. But it was his passion for filmmaking, which began when he made his first short film with his father's home video camera at the age of 10, that would serve as the catalyst for his decision to become a filmmaker. "When I wasn't making films, I used to wake up in the morning with a little bit of sadness and I didn't want to feel that my whole life," says Shyamalan. "So there was a point where I just listened carefully and figured out what I wanted to do. And now, even though that feeling of sadness still comes and goes every once in a while, I feel an incredible sense of peace because I feel like I am doing what I am supposed to do. And that is what this movie is really about -- discovering your destiny and asking yourself questions like 'what am I supposed to be doing with my life?' -- and how the pieces of your life somehow seem to fall into place and make sense when you find the answer.
"Before I wrote it, I conceived the whole movie in my head," says Shyamalan. "I said I want to do it with Touchstone Pictures. I want Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson to play the leads and I want it to come out at Thanksgiving."
Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan had not even finished editing "The Sixth Sense" when he started developing ideas for his next project and came up with the concept for "Unbreakable." "I had actually been working on another story for a few months during post-production on 'The Sixth Sense,' and was just at the stage when I was going to commit to writing it," says Shyamalan. "Then I had this idea about a man being the sole survivor of a horrific train crash who walks away without a scratch and how he begins to question who he is and what his purpose is in life. The idea was just so provocative and intrigued me so much, that I immediately started outlining it. Within a couple days I had it to the level of the movie that I'd been working on for months, so I just kept on going.
"I couldn't believe it when Night called and said he was already working on another script and that he was writing it specifically for me," says Willis. "We had just finished shooting 'The Sixth Sense,' the movie had not even been released in theatres yet, and he already had a new idea and wanted me to star. I was so impressed by his confidence in me and, having just worked with him, I knew what he was capable of, so I trusted him implicitly."
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| Samuel L. Jackson also had the same kind of instinctual trust about Shyamalan and the script. "I had read 'The Sixth Sense' a few years ago and thought it was an awesome script," says Jackson. "So not only did I trust his writing, but I had also spoken to Bruce about his experience working with him and trusted his opinion about what he had done. So I said, just let me know when it's ready and I'll be there."
"Up until now, I think many people would think 'Die Hard' was one of the ultimate Bruce Willis movies because it used all of his assets as an actor -- his sense of humor, his charm, his ability to be an action hero and his ability to be an Everyman," says producer Barry Mendel. "But with 'Unbreakable,' Night was able to take that archetypal role and add the kind of depth and uniqueness that he brings to his movies.
Just as Shyamalan had written the character of David Dunn to reflect Bruce's natural Everyman quality, he created the character of Elijah Price with the same kind of electric intensity and eccentric personality exuded by Samuel L. Jackson. "You can't ask somebody to act like Sam Jackson," laughs Shyamalan. "If you want Sam Jackson, you hire Sam Jackson. I tailor-made this role to his kind of sarcasm, his drilling eyes that glare at you and that kind of staccato when he talks. I literally watched and listened to what words would sound good coming out of his mouth and tried to write the kind of spitfire knowledge that he can do so well into the script."
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