‘Big Jack’ can take over whenever the need arises

Jack Nicholson turns on the arrogant image when the character requires it.

By BARRY KOLTNOW

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — “Big Jack,” as Jack Nicholson calls his mischievous, Cheshire Cat-grinning, eyebrow-raising, LA Lakers-cheering public alter-ego, is sitting on the coffee table in the form of a pair of sunglasses and a pack of smokes.

Stripped of his props, regular Jack rests comfortably on a sofa in a suite at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, waxing eloquent in a soft but hoarse voice on the craft of acting.

The two Jacks rarely occupy the same space and time, although Nicholson admits that he is not above bringing Big Jack to the set when the situation calls for it, as it did in his new movie “The Bucket List.”

In the Rob Reiner-directed film, Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play two complete opposites who meet in the cancer ward of a hospital, discover that they share a date with mortality and begin compiling a list of things they want to do, see and experience before they kick the bucket.

While Freeman’s character is a quiet, gentle soul, Nicholson plays an arrogant, self-centered, fast-living billionaire, and the three-time Oscar-winner knew exactly where to turn for inspiration — Big Jack.

“It’s OK to let Big Jack leak into certain performances, like ‘A Few Good Men,’ ‘The Departed’ or this one,” he explained. “When you’re playing someone bigger than life, a little Big Jack goes a long way.

“But the pro game is not about that. It’s about un-Jacking the part. You have to subvert Jack. Once the audience thinks they know who you are, you have to go in another direction.

“Acting is not about denying anything,” he added. “It is about including everything. You need to shape your character as much as you can. Sometimes that means you need Jack, and sometimes you need un-Jack.”

Nicholson lives this dual existence off the set as well. He says he has no problem living as Big Jack in public, but reality tends to set in once the spotlight is turned off.

“I’m not nearly as social or gadabout at 70 as I was at 60, but that’s the nature of life. But I’m still decent in a conversation or at an event, so I’m still having fun as Big Jack. The meaning of fun changes as you get older.”

What wasn’t fun was a recent health problem (an infected saliva gland) that required surgery and forced Nicholson to accept eight weeks of bed rest.

“It was by no means life-threatening, and I’m not trying to make more of it than it deserves, but I was concerned. I’m a very active person and lying in a bed for eight weeks sapped my physical energy. My legs still aren’t there. I measure my progress by how tired I am on the walk from my car to my seat at the Lakers games.”

Like any good actor, Nicholson used the experience to shape his character in “The Bucket List.”

“Jack is just like his character in the movie in that he has never really been sick in his life and has never been in a hospital before,” Reiner said. “Some of the lines in the movie were improvised by Jack because he and the character had some of the same experiences.”

Reiner, who worked previously with Nicholson on “A Few Good Men,” said the actor never lets Big Jack get in the way of the creative process.

“Look, Jack understands what people’s perceptions of him are, and he makes the most of it. But it’s not put on. He really is that guy. The secret to Jack is that he lives life on his own terms. He has managed to get through life without compromising.

“He’s comfortable as Big Jack, but he’s even more comfortable when he parks Big Jack at the door and starts to work. He is a full-on artist in every sense of the word. He approaches his work as an artist. He obsesses over the work.”