Jack Nicholson: A Chat With Jack

Q: How did you create your character of the Joker in Batman?

A: It was fun to play a character who would never think of apologizing for any of his behavior. I took the character more seriously than anyone else. As a child, Batman was my favorite character. To me back then, the cartoon was like Shakespeare blown up. While making the film, I loved working in a mask, like most actors, but they rarely get the chance to do it unless they're hanging around the house.

Q: You've directed three films over the years, the most recent being The Two Jakes, the sequel to Chinatown, in 1990. Any plans to get behind the camera again?

A: I just don't have the desire to at present. I enjoyed directing Drive, He Said, and would love to work with Bruce Dern again. Goin' South was a lot of fun to do and spawned several million-dollar actors. Two Jakes had its problems, but it was fun to get inside that character again.

Q: Were you surprised how much critical acclaim you got in 1992 for basically a handful of scenes in A Few Good Men?

A: People at that point had forgotten what a hardcore bastard I really am! [laughs] It was another example of a middle-class character operating under his own strict moral code. Tom [Cruise] was fun to play off of, because he had no ego as an actor in the sense of going outside his character to draw attention to him as a star.

Q: Many people regard your second film for Sean Penn, The Pledge, as underrated, but it was obviously not a film likely to please a large audience. Were you eager to work with him again?

A: I did want to work with Sean again after we did The Crossing Guard because he's very much an actor-oriented director. There's a moment where my character, who's still trying to find a missing child after he's left the police force, says, "I made a promise... You're old enough to remember when that meant something." How many films have a character and a plot come together with a few lines of dialogue like that? I had friends who didn't get the ending or disliked it, but I understood it and I like movies that don't tie up every plot point at the end, that leave the audience imagining the next scene, like in Five Easy Pieces.

Q: What attracted you to last year's Anger Management?

A: It captured some moods that I didn't understand. And I liked Adam Sandier. I found a normal consistency in him that I thought I could play off of well. Adam kind of takes things more seriously than me and is into goon humor. I like antic comedy. I've always wanted to do a [Dean] Martin and [Jerry] Lewis film or a [Bob] Hope and [Bing] Crosby picture, and I thought this was as close as I was going to get.

Q: What attracted you to Something's Gotta Give? Did the chance to work with Diane Keaton so many years after doing Reds together have anything to do with it?

A: I liked the script. It's rare when you get a romantic script for someone my age. And Diane is a good friend and I've always wanted to work with her again. When we made the movie it had no title and for some unknown reason I kept forgetting the new titles, so I just finally called it The Diane Keaton Movie since she was so terrific in it.

Q: You recently attended a film festival in Las Vegas where Dennis Hopper gave you an award. Do awards still mean anything to you?

A: I did that more for Dennis. nowadays, they almost seem like TV fundraisers. Meryl Streep warns about falling victim to tribute-itis, which is easy to do, because you don't want to turn down people nice enough to give you a trophy and a meal. But the Academy Awards are still the big honors and I suspect always will be.

Q: At the recent AFI tribute to Meryl Streep, people seemed to be surprised by a few of your off-color comments.

A: Well, sometimes Jack can be a bad boy. I was going to be in Detroit that night and changed my plans at the last minute because Meryl and I are such old friends. There were people doing a lot of crazy stuff that night--like Jim Carrey doing me, and different clips being shown than what we were told would be used. I thought people responded nicely to me. Meryl, who has a wicked sense of humor, thought I was funny.

Q: If you were to take a pay cut... [Nicholson interrupts with a Joker-like laugh.]

A: I can't wait to see where this is going!

Q: ...would you want to coach the Los Angeles Lakers?

A: No, because I know the players too well and I'm friends with some of them. I wouldn't want to be the one to go behind closed doors and yell at them. To me, watching pro basketball is entertainment that truly relaxes me. I could be an assistant head coach. There's more of them around so they don't seem to get fired much [chuckles]. And they always seem to find time to talk to guys like me when I want some inside NBA stuff.

Q: You took up golf late in life. Why?

A: It gets me out of the house. I'm lazy and golf is a good rest outdoors, but it's often very frustrating. No killer smile can seduce a golf ball. George Carlin, who's an extremely funny man, says that watching golf on TV is as exciting as watching flies fuck. Maybe that's another reason I don't watch much television.

Q: What are your thoughts on women today?

A: They're smarter, stronger and they don't play the games that men do. I think Billy Wilder once said that the perfect woman is one who, after you have sex with her, turns into a card table surrounded by five of your best friends. I've always believed that when a writer has a great line like that then you salute them and let them have your final word!

___________________________________________

Pages: 1 2 3