Title: THE PLEDGE: JACK
NICHOLSON INTERVIEW
Date: 1/1/2001; Publication: Star Interviews; Author:
Prairie Miller
Star Interviews
01-01-2001
THE PLEDGE: JACK NICHOLSON INTERVIEW
* By Prairie Miller *
Jack Nicholson may be one of the most intimately revealing
actors on screen, but in person he'd rather just go incognito.
The three time Oscar winner with that one of a kind
charisma is
so adamant that he not upstage any of the characters he plays in
movies, that he refuses to do in-person interviews for
television. Despite Nicholson's embargo on letting it all hang
out in conversations with the press, he revealed quite a bit
during this particular get together, about his own fierce
artistic dedication that radiates from his latest stellar
performance as a devastated retired detective in Sean Penn's The
Pledge.
JACK NICHOLSON: Sorry for being a little hoarse today.
* I hope you're not allergic to journalists! Don't worry,
with or
without a voice, your charisma will see you through this
interview.
JN: Ah, that's what I wanted to hear!
* You're just so spellbinding in The Pledge.
JN: Raaahhhh!
* That's something like what I meant. And what spell did this
project cast over you?
JN: Well, Sean brought The Pledge to me as a novel, that was
my
first contact with it. And I told him that maybe there wasn't a
movie in this. Then he went and got a script done. And when I
read the script I thought ooh, there's a very unique and good
movie in The Pledge. So that's how I got involved. In addition,
I always want to work with Sean anyway. He's an old friend, and
a genius about moviemaking. He makes you look good!
* Everybody's saying now that Jack's back, after being away from
movies for so long.
JN: Why does everybody think it's so long?
* I do see you all the time at the Lakers games on TV, but where
have you been?
JN: Well, first of all, I think it's only two years. I did take a
year off, because I do that from time to time. Then you know,
it
takes six or eight months to make a new movie deal. After that
you make the movie and then the movie comes out, that's all. So
it's not that long. But I'm delighted that you're paying
attention! To me.
* It does seem that Sean leads you into places that other
directors don't or can't. How satisfying is that?
JN: One of the great things about working with Sean is the
material that he chooses, first of all. You know, with Sean
you're not in competition with a blue screen, or a dog. Or any
of those things that make for successful movies at the moment.
Sean is interested in humanity, and human observation. And the
style of both of the scripts that I've done with Sean - The
Pledge and The Crossing Guard - as you read them knowing your
craft, it means that they're going to draw on the best
of what
you do in your job.
The scenes are not all about plot. There are a lot of
tangential human relationships going on in all of the scenes.
And through all of that behavior, remains the obligation to tell
a story. That's kind of a long answer, but that's what you know.
If you read a lot of scripts, you know that here's a script
that's not all about plot. And that deals with real humanity,
and not in a melodramatic way.
* The Pledge is being promoted as a detective story. How would
you explain it as much more than that?
JN: Here's what I can say about the movie. It's in a very
familiar genre, but it's totally unique. I defy anybody who is
not familiar with the material to predict, as you can with most
films, the ending of the picture. You can't do it. While in
something as simple as the detective story, that's a hard thing
to accomplish. So it is engrossing, as you follow the story. It
draws you in to follow. And it touches on a lot of themes of
life that are worth being discussed and articulated. You know,
it's all of the things other than a barn dance or an explosion.
I just think it's a very good movie, and I hope that's enough
these days. I don't see why it shouldn't be.
* Talk about your unique take on the detective mind and
personality with your character.
JN: You know, conventions build up without your even
knowing
them. Just the way of playing a cop, for instance. I
had to talk
to Sean about this in advance, but I moved it more toward myself
than toward the character. Because we become so used to the
tough, hard bitten policeman who sees murder and torture and
everything that can go on, and it becomes part of their life like
oatmeal. But in The Pledge, I wanted my character to be less
inured to the job, even though he's out of the job when the
story begins. So even though he's seen it all, I didn't want to
play by that conventional wisdom, that nothing affects him.
In fact, there's something that's not in the picture that
Sean did right in the script. In order to touch that element, I
said Sean, as we're going toward the crime scene, why don't you
have a couple of police officers just sitting there weeping.
You know, because this conventional wisdom that builds up about
what life is really like, is very often the energy that makes
for a new kind of interesting communication. And what I just
described, is one of the things I'm talking about. We
assume we
know things so quickly in life, and we don't really.
* Your big alcoholic scene in the movie was so devastating. What
did you draw on from within yourself to bring that to the
screen?
JN: I knew what it meant for the story, and I just went to places
where I thought it would be, things like that. So I
went in and
said, all right. I'm gonna show you that character
now in this
take. And I went in and just played it, right in that one take.
* Does a movie like The Pledge change the direction of your
career much?
JN: Yes, of course it does. I mean, a lot of things don't change.
But the style of business changes, and it's now a conglomerated
business. Studio heads are more department heads in a
conglomerate. And any unorthodoxy is viewed as heresy of a kind.
So a lot of films that are made are, you know, really financial
situations. So there's not the amount of breadth of production
that you had when I first started out. And yet in a lot of ways,
it's much more free.
* What do you miss most about the old ways?
JN: I miss, of course, the fake elements the most! I liked the
glamour of
suppose I still do. So that's a big change. And it has to do
with how much attention is paid to the things that aren't the
film itself. That was always promoted. But once you have an
industry with hours and hours of television that need to be
filled, the emphasis of people's lives changes quite a bit.
* Do you ever feel like you're getting jaded when you think about
those things?
JN: Well, I'm not jaded. I do get furious at the deal making
process, that's what has gotten most aggravating to me. Because
I've never been an actor going for the top money. And you think,
if you offer them a bargain then all 3 this wheeling and dealing
will go faster, but that doesn't work much. And I hate seeing my
movies on television, I won't participate in that. I let them
butcher those movies themselves.
But once all that is over, one of the things about this job
that is great, is that there is no credit. You still
have to
open the door each time and act, in a way that's believable. You
don't get to say it believably because last week you did it
right. So that's the edge of it, that's the part of it that
makes it edgy. You really have to moment by moment do the job.
There's no laurels to rest on, that won't take you
anywhere. So
that's one of the things I like about it.
* Did you ever have a retirement crisis moment like your
character in The Pledge?
JN: One time I had a talk with Clint Eastwood about going on with
it, or what are we doing, and so forth. So we had one of those
kind of talks. Then I ran into him a little while
later, and he
told me, well I see neither one of us has retired yet!
* So what did you tell Clint?
JN: I said no, but I'm glad that we took the time. Because
here's
why we're doing it. We want to be expressive. If you strip
everything else aside, like all of the aggravations and all
that, and you get down to it, that's what brought us here. And
I'm proud of that. You know, that's why I'm here, and why I came
to
not happy!
* Did you ever imagine that you would have come this far as an
actor, with three Oscars?
JN: Well, I'm sure I must have had fantasies about it! But when I
first came out to
as an office boy at MGM, and took the job primarily to see movie
stars. It was like an exotic foreign language to me.
* Since you confess to being a fan once, do you have any hunches
about why we all are so fascinated with movie stars?
JN: You know, rather than be kind of scratchy and so
forth in
public, which occasionally I have been, I remember how it
affected me. I mean, like one of the toughest things with what
we're talking about, is going to an art museum. You're in an art
museum and you're standing in front of Van Gogh. And you're
looking at it and going, wow. Then you turn around, and here's
eight people looking at you! And that's the most uncomfortable
example of the fascination with film stars.
So when you're outside, you have to take into consideration
that for some of those people, just seeing you will be one of
the huge events of their lives. They won't forget it. And that
has nothing to do with your worth, or anything like that. It's
just...phenomenological. And I try to be aware of that, so that
I don't misbehave. You know, that this person is going to
remember this meeting their entire life. Now, that's mind
boggling to the person who is experiencing it.
* What have been some of the most bizarre fan reactions you've
seen?
JN: Well, let me see. I remember going to a playoff game in the
NBA in
There was a huge thunderstorm outside, and they were running me
around. So that by the time I got in the arena, I had been
around in the rain for some time, and I was ready to start
screaming anything hideous against
conceive of. And not just because I'm a rabid Lakers fan!
So I came in, and the whole first two rows had on a mask of
my face! And coming into that and just seeing like sixty or
seventy Jack Nicholsons looking back at me had to be
one of the
most bizarre fan reactions that I've ever had...But a couple of
the other ones I'm under an injunction not to speak about!
* I hear you. How do you deal with trying to have as normal a
life as possible when you're in public?
JN: Well, I don't expect to not be recognized. And everybody
knows how to hide, or not be conspicuous. I mean, I'm always
worried about the degree that I've learned to deal with it. You
know, the amount of artifice, and the ability to dodge, all
those kinds of things. Every once in a while, I get alarmed by
how evolved I am in that way. But I still am hesitant. Like if
you're going to go somewhere, I have to look at it as work.
That's why I'm addicted to private planes. So when I go out that
way, I know it's part of the job.
* Do you resent having to live your life like that?
JN: I have no bad feeling about it. I simply have had to make a
very real adjustment to it. Especially because I'm very
outgoing. I mean, I'd be out there every two minutes if I could.
* Do you feel like journalists ever know the real Jack Nicholson?
JN: I've done a lot of interviews with people making a living
doing that, and I always assume they're talented at what they
do. And I'd say that collectively if you put all these
interviews together, somewhere I'm in there. But I think part
of it with me is that I don't really want to be known. And
that's why I don't do television interviews. I just think that
the less you are sure about me, the more you're likely to give
in to a character I play. So for me to be really well defined
would work against what I do. That may sound high falutin',
but
it's sort of what I think I'm about.
Hey look, I'm Irish. I love to talk! You know, I think if
I'm on a roll, that I can be pretty interesting on any number of
subjects, and who wouldn't like to be applauded for that. So
it's tempting, but I don't agree with it. And with television
interviews, once you're filmed, there's no more room for
interpretation. So part of that is my not wanting to be known.
And you really can't be, because certainly there are as many
misconceptions in the average interview as there are accuracies.
So it pretty much all comes out of the wash in a way.
* I'll respect your mystery! What are you up to when you're not
working in order to take your mind off the intensity of acting,
and at the same time fortify yourself for that high level of
stress all over again?
JN: I was raised to be well rounded, so I have a lot of other
interests. I've always been telling my own friends since we were
all in our thirties, that if we don't develop ourselves in other
ways, we'll be bored by the time we're fifty! Because you
can't
just sit back. You have to maintain your interest in life. Or
you will begin to lose your own light, whatever that is. There's
nothing spectacular that I do. I ski, I play a lot of golf now,
and I used to play a lot of tennis. And because of acting, I've
gotten to travel a lot. So I have friends in other places that I
like to see. And I have new children. That's a boon to my life,
and I spend a lot of time with them.
* Would you ever participate in a DVD?
JN: No. It's that whole thing again, I don't want
people to know
everything about me. I want them to be interested in the movie,
you know?
* You once said that the person who influenced you the most was
your mother. Is there anything that your mother ingrained in
you, that has run like a golden thread through your
life?
JN: First, that self-praise stinks. That was one of the big ones.
And I carry something in my wallet, long after she had passed
on, that she gave me. My mother liked cutting things out of the
papers. And she cut out of the Newark Ledger a column called The
Comic Dictionary. She gave me the definition of a smart aleck.
Which was, a smart aleck is the person that doesn't know that
it's what he learns after he knows it all that counts!
Copyright 2001 by Prairie Miller
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