Jack Nicholson still refuses to return to cinema

The actor is enjoying a form of retirement where he can “do whatever he wants,” a source close to him explains.

It's been 14 years since Jack Nicholson has not appeared on the silver screen. The last time was in James L. Brooks' film, How to know (2010), a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd And Owen Wilson which had been a huge flop. A release that didn't really live up to his immense career.

The actor, now 87, a three-time Oscar winner, has left his mark on Hollywood with his more than 80 performances in classic films including Infiltrators (2006), Shining (1980), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Chinatown (1974), among others.

He will return to the small screen tonight, in a comedy by Nancy Meyers (The Holiday) released 20 years ago, entitled Everything can happen. The pitch? Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson, of course), the head of a New York record company, only dates girls under thirty. During a romantic date with his new girlfriend, Marin (Amanda Peet), he falls under the spell of her divorced feminist mother, Erica Barry (Diane Keaton). But a seductive thirty-something doctor is keeping an eye on things…

Here is its trailer:

Jack Nicholson shows off his talent in As Good as It Gets [critique]

From How to knowNicholson was courted on numerous occasions, notably by Robert Downey Jr. who wanted to play opposite him in The judge and eventually had to turn to Robert Duvall. In 2017, he had also been announced in the American remake of Toni Erdmann. But the actor never returned to the sets. And it seems that we will not see him again in the cinema.

During a discussion with music producer Lou Adler (The Mamas & The Papas), a long-time friend of Nicholson, Marc Maron shared this anecdote in his podcast WTF with Marc Maron at the end of 2023.

“A friend of mine wanted to have him in a movie, he begins. He discussed it with him. But Jack told him: 'I don't feel like doing it. You know what I did today? I sat under a tree and read a book.'”

“It looks a lot like Jack“, Lou Adler replied, confirming that Nicholson no longer wanted to be burdened with any constraints.”He does what he wants to do. He wants to be left alone. He wants to eat what he wants to eat. Live the life he wants to live.“

George Miller – The Witches of Eastwick: “Jack is extraordinary”