The iconic Robert Redford role Jack Nicholson turned down: “I had enough business acumen”
During the New Hollywood movement, great film stars constantly crossed paths as they worked alongside each other to redefine a new era in the industry. Directors like Martin Scorsese, Peter Bogdanovich and Steven Spielberg were all working with the same pool of actors, casting the likes of Faye Dunaway, Jack Nicholson, Ali MacGraw and Warren Beatty in their movies, creating an infamous artistic movement that forever shaped the business of filmmaking.
While there were ample opportunities during this time, with the industry booming after the unprecedented success of hit films like Jaws and The Exorcist, alongside a number of thriving auteurs who were hungry for work, many actors found themselves up for the same roles. This resulted in an interesting thread of competition during the casting process.
Jack Nicholson is one of the most influential actors of all time, having starred in many iconic pictures from the New Hollywood movement. With mesmerising performances in films like The Shining, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Five Easy Pieces, the actor became known for his seamless versatility and chameleon-esque nature, blending between polar opposite roles with apparent ease.
But Nicholson could potentially have starred in another infamous project as one of the most sought-after actors of the time, being pursued by a myriad of directors who wanted him to flesh out their characters. One of the most notable examples of this is The Sting, which later became Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s crowning glory.
The Sting, directed by George Roy Hill, follows a novice con man who pairs up with a master of the business to avenge a mutual friend who was murdered, attempting to pull off a colossal con. The film swept at the Oscars that year, winning ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’, becoming a beacon of this new era and the risky projects that defied the odds and resonated with mass audiences, becoming equally commercially and creatively successful.
While the role of Johnny Hooker was a great role, Nicholson was originally offered the part and turned it down. The writer of the movie, David Ward, had always had Redford in mind for the character, but after the actor initially turned it down, the team tried their hand at convincing Nicholson to take it. When describing this, Nicholson said, “I had enough business acumen to know The Sting was going to be a huge hit, [but] at the same time Chinatown and The Last Detail were more interesting films to me,” the actor explained.
While the idea of seeing both Redford and Nicholson on screen together is thrilling, it was ultimately not meant to be, and the film is now infamous for the electric chemistry between Redford and Newman. The story would undoubtedly be different with the presence of Nicholson in this role, and perhaps this project would have altered the trajectory of his career, with the actor starring in The Last Detail that year, which then led to Chinatown.
