There is something profoundly unsettling about Gregory Peck’s performance in The Omen (1976) when you know what had happened in his real life just months before filming began.

In June 1975, Peck’s eldest son, Jonathan, died by suicide. Peck was devastated by the loss and later spoke of the profound grief and guilt that followed it. (The Guardian⁠)

Then came The Omen.

Peck played Robert Thorn, a father whose entire world is shattered by the death and disappearance of his child — and who becomes increasingly desperate to understand what has happened to his family.

Filming began in October 1975, only around four months after Jonathan’s death. (IMDb⁠)

It is difficult not to watch Peck differently knowing this.

The film’s climax, in which Robert is faced with an unbearable choice involving his adopted son Damien, reportedly proved particularly difficult for Peck. The role gave him a character whose story was built around fatherhood, loss, guilt and the impossible question of what a parent does when their child is gone.

And then there is the mythology surrounding The Omen.

Peck’s tragedy became one of the details later folded int film’s infamous “curse” narrative, alongside the lightning strikes, accidents and other strange coincidences surrounding the production. But Jonathan’s death wasn’t a supernatural omen. It was a real tragedy that Peck carried with him onto the set.

Perhaps that is what makes his performance so haunting.

Behind Robert Thorn’s horror is an actor who had very recently experienced one of the worst things a parent can endure.

The Omen may be remembered as one of cinema’s great horror films — but for Gregory Peck, there was a darkness surrounding the role that no special effect could create.