The actor Stanley Kubrick said had the “X-factor magic”
There are a handful of movie directors who have captured universal acclaim throughout cinematic history, and one of them is undoubtedly Stanley Kubrick. The iconic filmmaker is, with great ease, one of the most celebrated auteurs of all time, having made some of the greatest movies.
Across Kubrick’s catalogue are countless masterpieces in a wide range of genres. From his historical epic Spartacus to his science fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, from his Vietnam War detail Full Metal Jacket to his erotic exploration Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick always showcased his genius behind the camera.
As one of the all-time great directors, it was only natural that Kubrick got to work with some of the best actors to ever work in cinema. Perhaps the argument could be made that, out of each of the figures to have performed in a Kubrick movie, none possessed the cultural status of Jack Nicholson, who famously starred in the lead role in Kubick’s 1980 horror movie The Shining.
In playing Jack Torrance, a recovering alcoholic who takes a seasonal job at The Overlook Hotel as its caretaker, only to slowly descend into madness, Nicholson delivered one of his greatest-ever performances. It was based on the same character in Stephen King’s novel of the same name, which the film itself was inspired by.
In an interview with Michel Ciment, Kubrick once spoke of his impression of Nicholson and noted, “I believe that Jack is one of the best actors in Hollywood.” The director proceeded to compare Nicholson to the “greatest stars of the past”, including Spencer Tracy and James Cagney, two equal icons of Hollywood.
In fact, Kubrick felt that in any role that suited Nicholson, he would likely have been “almost everyone’s first choice”. Throughout his career, Nicholson played a wide range of characters. For instance, he played a rousing yet sane mental institution patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a misanthropic OCD novelist in As Good as It Gets and a stoned conspiracy theorist in Easy Rider.
Elsewhere, he’d performed as a reluctant piano prodigy in Five Easy Pieces, The Joker in 1989’s Batman and an Irish Boston mob boss in The Departed, proving his versatility and talent as an actor. With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that Nicholson has three Academy Awards to his name and earned the admiration of Stanley Kubrick in the process.
“His work is always interesting, clearly conceived and has the X-factor magic,” the director gushed. “Jack is particularly suited for roles which require intelligence. He is an intelligent and literate man, and these are qualities almost impossible to act. In The Shining, you believe he’s a writer, failed or otherwise.”
Indeed, Nicholson has often given a striking sense of believability in the many excellent performances he has given, so much so that, despite the frequent amount of roles he has taken on, it’s easy to forget that it’s Jack Nicholson, the actor, who is playing the likes of Jack Torrance, Randle McMurphy or Frank Costello.
Kubrick knew that he had the right man to play Jack in The Shining, and Nicholson elevated the protagonist of Stephen King’s classic horror novel to new fearsome heights. Dousing the character with an unbridled sense of madness and unease, Nicholson gave one of horror cinema’s best performances in the process.
