Jack Nicholson is an actor known for playing a plethora of roles in his Hollywood career. Portraying some very difficult and unique characters over the years, Nicholson has earned himself a name and acclaim for these kinds of roles.
Starring in the role of Melvin Udall in the 1997 movie As Good as It Gets, the actor had second-guessed himself countless times due to the nature of his character. Being a very disrespectful character, Jack Nicholson stated that portraying Melvin Udall was one of the most difficult things he ever had to do.
Jack Nicholson Had A Hard Time Portraying Melvin Udall
Although the actor is known for his remarkable work in Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror flick The Shining, it was one of the hardest roles that he had ever done. Portraying the role of Jack Torrence in the horror film, Nicholson was praised and acclaimed for his acting skills, and the iconic dialogue “Here’s Johnny” became notoriously famous over the decades.
After The Shining, Nicholson went on to star in the role of Melvin Udall in the 1997 movie As Good as It Gets. Following the story of three characters who form a special bond after a tragedy befalls one of them, the actor had quite a unique character to portray in the 1997 film. With how the character of Melvin Udall was written, Nicholson admitted sarcastically that that was the most lovable character he had ever played.
Nicholson had once said that the character of Melvin Udall was“the most lovable character I’ve ever played.”
As per trivia, the actor was also very skeptical about portraying the said role. Jack Nicholson had a fear that the movie would totally bomb due to the character that he portrayed.
Jack Nicholson Was Worried That The Movie Would Flop
The character of Melvin Udall was very misanthropic in nature. Having a natural hatred for people, As Good as It Gets sees three unlikely people forming a deep friendship due to an incident as the rom-com made its way into people’s hearts.
Nicholson was so terrified of the role that he thought the movie would totally flop because he was so rude to people in the 1997 film. Much to the actor’s relief, that did not happen as As Good as It Gets went on to earn $300 million worldwide along with 7 Oscar nominations and winning two of them (Best Actor and Best Actress).
As Good as It Gets received a strong rating of 7.7/10 on IMDB and 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Jack Nicholson rom-com starrer is available to rent on Apple TV+.
Source: IMDB
