While Jack Nicholson hasn’t officially announced his retirement yet, fans are already speculating the legendary actor has already bid goodbye to acting, considering his last on-screen appearance was almost 15 years ago. However, Nicholson’s longtime collaborator James L. Brooks thinks otherwise.
Brooks has produced some of the movie industry’s notable features, four of which starred Nicholson. This includes 1983’s Terms of Endearment, 1987’s Broadcast News, and 1997’s As Good as It Gets, with the 2010 romantic comedy, How Do You Know, serving as Nicholson’s last movie appearance.
What’s the latest Jack Nicholson retirement update?
The director explained why their collaborations worked well and how he wouldn’t have made As Good as It Gets if Nicholson had not signed up for it.
“On As Good as It Gets, if I didn’t get Jack for that, I hope that I would’ve been smart enough not to make the movie. He was the only man alive who could get an audience to sit and watch it and be interested because of who that character was. Boy, sometimes you feel that way and you’re wrong. I’m sure I was right about that,” Brooks told The Hollywood Reporter.
Brooks was the director behind Nicholson’s last film. On whether or not the actor would ever step back from acting, Brooks told the outlet: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jack work again. I mean, it’s been a hunk of time but I don’t know. Maybe it could be the right thing. He’s reading scripts all the time, I think.”
Brooks noted that he still communicates with Nicholson, especially over their shared interest in basketball. “Yeah, we do. He’s one of the best. It’s amazing. He’s not just a manly man but he’s got all the graceful stuff about him, too. He has it all. He’s also a tremendously sophisticated guy in terms of literature, in terms of art. I mean, he really knows his stuff. He’s a first-rate painter, too,” said Brooks.
Best known for his remarkable performance as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, some of Nicholson’s widely regarded starring roles include Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the 1989 Batman, A Few Good Men, The Departed, Easy Rider, and more.
