V ertigo is also James Stewart's deepest, darkest portrayal. Years later, Stewart said, "After several years, I saw the film again and thought it was a fine picture. I myself had known fear like that, and I'd known people paralyzed by fear. It's a very powerful thing to be almost engulfed by that kind of fear. I didn't realize when I was preparing for the role what an impact it would have, but it's an extraordinary achievement even by Hitch. And I could tell it was a very personal film even while he was making it."

Kim Novak recalls that "Jimmy was more deeply involved in Vertigo than anything else that I've known he's done."