“It was murder”: the performance that drove Jack Nicholson crazy
When watching the work of Jack Nicholson, his performances feel effortless and exact, as if acting is second nature to him and real life is the performance. And after winning multiple Academy Awards and Golden Globes for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Departed, The Last Detail and Chinatown, it’s hard to imagine a role he couldn’t play. But after starring in James L. Brooks’ 1997 film As Good as it Gets, the director revealed that Nicholson struggled to get into character.
Nicholson plays Melvin Udall, a selfish writer who is suddenly burdened with the task of looking after his neighbour, starring alongside Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear. The film is a classic storyline about apathy to empathy, with the grouchy old man eventually learning how to care for others and connect to his immediate community of people.
James L. Brooks is most well-known for his 1987 film Broadcast News, a film about a team of journalists trying to find balance within a newsroom and the types of stories they should share. Brooks has a knack for sincere and heartfelt stories, which are perhaps not the describing words we’d associate with the likes of The Shining and A Few Good Men.
But despite being known for his unique range, playing complex, disturbed and emotionally plagued characters, Nicholson struggled to find balance within the character of Melvin Udall, with Brooks saying, “…it was murder for Jack to find his character. He had to never wink at the camera, never re-assure anybody the guy wasn’t really fucked up.”
“At times, I was no help to him whatsoever,” he reflected. “All I was doing was being reduced to, ‘Not that’s not it,’ and driving him crazy. And then, one day, we were so clearly stuck in the mud, and I sent the crew home with hours left to shoot, which is something you don’t do. I don’t know what we said. I know we talked for two or three hours, and the next day, everything was ok”
For someone who seamlessly blended into the strange worlds of Antonioni and Kubrick, Nicholson’s difficulty with this character feels out of character.
However, when Nicholson’s co-star Helen Hunt spoke about his challenges with this role, she revealed that he would confide in her as they had their makeup done, particularly anxious about one shooting day. Nicholson eventually said that none of it really mattered before reflecting and saying, “The only art I left is to not do that. To not go there.”
Any artist can speak to the nagging familiarity of this thought, the ‘what does it all mean?!’ that creeps up as we embark on creating. But despite what sounds like a confidence crisis on behalf of Nicholson, it feels somewhat comforting to know that even the best artists struggle to find their voice sometimes, but that regardless of the noise, he was able to stay true to his creative principles and not give in to the voice that disturbs what he does best.
