Playboy Magazine South Africa November 2013 November 2013 | Page 28
THE INTERVIEW
JACK NICHOLSON
sic
asPLAYBOY INTERVIEW
Cl
E\ GDYLG VKHII
JACK NICHOLSON
He’s known as both a rebellious free spirit and one of the greatest American actors
HYHU +HUH DW WKH DJH RI KH VKRZV ZK\ KH ZDV GHVWLQHG WR ÀOO ERWK UROHV
Jack Nicholson is on every credible reviewer’s short list of the
greatest actors of all time. Over the past half century he has played
some of the most memorable characters ever seen on screen –
characters that “stand for freedom, anarchy, self-gratification
and bucking the system, and often they also stand for generous
friendship and a kind of careworn nobility,” as film critic Roger
Ebert has written. Many of the 75 films he has appeared in are
among the best ever made, an astonishing list that includes
Chinatown, The Last Detail, Carnal Knowledge, One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Passenger, Hoffa, The Shining, The Postman
Always Rings Twice, Prizzi’s Honor, Batman, A Few Good Men and
About Schmidt. He has been nominated for 12 Academy Awards
(he’s won three) and is a recipient of a lifetime achievement award
from the American Film Institute.
Nicholson’s personal life has also been celebrated – including his
off-screen relationships with actresses Anjelica Huston and Michelle
Phillips, among others, his unapologetic drug use and his sexual
3/$<%2< +DYH WKHUH EHHQ DQ\ VLJQLILFDQW
FKDQJHV LQ \RXU OLIHVW\OH LQ WKH WKUHH \HDUV
VLQFH \RX KLW LW ELJ ZLWK (DV\ 5LGHU"
1,&+2/621 ,¶P QRW ORRNLQJ IRU ZRUN
DQ\PRUH :RUN LV ORRNLQJ IRU PH 6LQFH P\
RYHUQLJKW VWDUGRP LI \RX FDQ FDOO LW WKDW
, FDQ¶W JR DURXQG SLFNLQJ XS VWUD\ SXVV\
DQ\PRUH
3/$<%2< ,V LW WUXH DV RQH LQWHUYLHZHU
UHSRUWHG WKDW \RX VPRNHG MRLQWV GXULQJ
(DV\ 5LGHU¶V FDPSILUH VHTXHQFH"
1,&+2/621 7KDW¶V D OLWWOH H[DJJHUDWHG
%XW HDFK WLPH , GLG D WDNH RU DQ DQJOH LW
LQYROYHG VPRNLQJ DOPRVW DQ HQWLUH MRLQW
:H ZHUH VPRNLQJ UHJXODU GRSH SUHWW\ JRRG
0H[LFDQ JUDVV IURP WKH VWDWH RI 0LFKRDFiQ
1RZ WKH PDLQ SRUWLRQ RI WKLV VHTXHQFH LV
WKH WUDQVLWLRQ IURP QRW EHLQJ VWRQHG WR EHLQJ
VWRQHG 6R WKDW DIWHU WKH ILUVW WDNH RU WZR
WKH DFWLQJ MRE EHFRPHV UHYHUVHG ,QVWHDG RI
EHLQJ VWUDLJKW DQG KDYLQJ WR DFW VWRQHG DW
WKH HQG ,¶P QRZ VWRQHG DW WKH EHJLQQLQJ
DQG KDYH WR DFW VWUDLJKW DQG WKHQ JUDGXDOO\
OHW P\VHOI UHWXUQ WR ZKHUH , ZDV ? ZKLFK
ZDV YHU\ VWRQHG $QG 'HQQLV >+RSSHU@ ZDV
K\VWHULFDO RIIFDPHUD PRVW RI WKH WLPH WKLV
ZDV KDSSHQLQJ ,Q IDFW VRPH RI WKH WKLQJV
\RX VHH LQ WKH ILOP ? OLNH P\ ORRNLQJ DZD\
DQG WU\LQJ WR NHHS P\VHOI IURP EUHDNLQJ XS
? ZHUH FDXVHG E\ P\ ORRNLQJ DW 'HQQLV RII
FDPHUD RYHU LQ WKH EXVKHV WRWDOO\ IUHDNHG RXW
RI KLV ELUG ODXJKLQJ KLV KHDG RII ZKLOH ,¶P
escapades. A noted sports fan, he is often seen ringside at boxing
matches and courtside at Los Angeles Lakers basketball games. It was
at a Lakers game that he celebrated his 75th birthday last year. The
crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Nicholson’s big break came in 1969 when he starred with Dennis
Hopper and Peter Fonda in the now-classic Easy Rider. Three years
later he gave the first of two remarkably candid PLAYBOY Interviews,
in the April 1972 and January 2004 issues. It was 40 years ago,
just before Nicholson turned 35, that Contributing Editor Richard
Warren Lewis sat down with the actor for a conversation that covered
everything from censorship (how in Hollywood “if you suck a tit,
you’re an X, but if you cut it off with a sword, you’re a PG”) to his
experimentation with LSD, while he smoked Montecristo cigars and
petted his cat. In the introduction Lewis noted that Nicholson’s eyes
were somehow “as inscrutable as the cat’s.” It was an interview
worthy of the actor known to be similar to a character he played who
says of himself, “I’m just your average horny little devil.”
LQ WKHUH WU\LQJ WR GR P\ /\QGRQ -RKQVRQ DQG
NHHS HYHU\WKLQJ WRJHWKHU
3/$<%2<