Ray Nicholson wasn’t always keen on being an actor like his famous father, Jack Nicholson.
The 33-year-old recently admitted to People Magazine he was a “chubby little kid” and didn’t feel the movie star boldness required for the job.
“I just don’t think I had the confidence,” he told the outlet. “So, I took baby steps. I’ve had the same manager since I was young, and while I had a foot in the door, I always wanted to be able to audition as just Ray.”
He also told the outlet he “wanted to be an astronaut and then maybe a sports agent” before he “later realized that, yeah, deep down I’d always wanted to do this.”
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In an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, he opened up about not being naturally inclined toward the spotlight.
“I grew up a chubby kid that got picked on, so I was like, ‘Oh man, I’m kind of embarrassing in this atmosphere.’ And my sister was always the most popular and beautiful, and I was the nerd — grim,” he said. “I just wanted to play video games. I just wanted to be invisible when I was younger.”
But there was already external pressure to follow in his dad’s footsteps.
“Everyone that was around me was kind of like, ‘Oh, you’re his kid. Oh my god, you have to be an actor.’ So, naturally, it was a hundred percent the last thing I wanted to do, ever, ever, ever,” Nicholson said.
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Nicholson is the elder of two children Nicholson shares with his former partner, Rebecca Broussard. Ray’s younger sister is writer and actress Lorraine Nicholson.
Jack also reportedly has four other children. He shares Jennifer Nicholson, 59, with his first and only wife, Sandra Knight; Caleb Goddard with Susan Anspach; Honey Hollman, 42, with model Winnie Hollman (though he’s never formally acknowledged paternity); and Tessa Gourin, who claims she is the actor’s illegitimate daughter with Jennie Gourin, though he’s never publicly addressed the claim.
Nicholson said some of his hesitation to pursue acting came from his Hollywood childhood.
“Also, growing up in that [world] I felt that it kind of deprived me of having a normal family, of having the things that my friends had that I completely envied. And that was always a tough thing, and I was always very resentful of it. I didn’t really understand it. You think being born in it, you would understand it, but I think I actually understood it even less,” the “Panic” star said.
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One day he shook off the anxiety and went for it.
“Then, it just dawned on me, like, ‘What the hell are you doing? You’ve always wanted to [act], but you’re just too scared, or you don’t feel worthy.’ Childhood resentment of not having the typical family and just kind of shaking that out,” he told USA Today.
“I am my dad’s kid, and I’m super happy about it.”
But there was still an internalized pressure to live up to a legacy that includes three Oscar wins and 12 nominations.
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Nicholson told People he took classes and often wondered if his work was “good enough for seven Oscars?”
“There was this crippling pressure I put on myself,” he said.
The younger Nicholson stars in two films in theaters this month, “Novacaine” and “Borderline,” playing a menacing bank robber and an unhinged man stalking a pop star, respectively, and he has embraced the job for what it is.
“I could care less whether people think I’m a great actor or not. I want to be engaging and entertaining,” he told USA Today. “Ultimately, it’s a service position. You want people to enjoy what you’re doing.”
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Nicholson landed his first role as a younger version of David Spade’s character in the 2006 comedy “The Benchwarmers,” a connection that came through his dad’s role alongside Adam Sandler in “Anger Management.”
After several years away from the screen, graduating from film school and taking acting classes, he began landing roles in films like “Promising Young Woman” and “Licorice Pizza” before appearing in the horror film “Smile 2.”
In “Smile 2,” a pop star, played by Naomi Scott, is chased by an evil entity that takes the form of various people, including her deceased husband, played by the younger Nicholson.
One scene in particular showcases Nicholson intensely smiling at the camera, not unlike his father did in the horror classic, “The Shining.”
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“My mom says, ‘Ray, you were such a beautiful boy, and then you started to look like your father,’” he joked on “CBS Mornings” about sharing a smile with his dad during the film’s promo tour last fall.
Nicholson credits his mother with keeping him grounded, telling USA Today he got his “nice teeth, good manners, blue eyes and curly hair” from Broussard.
“My dad is this larger-than-life person, and my mom’s someone that came from a trailer park in Henderson, Kentucky. She taught me how to be a human and how to have a heart,” he added.
The role in “Smile 2” proved to be a breakout one, and Nicholson told the outlet he didn’t feel like he had to “hide” anymore.
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“Dude, that was the coolest thing ever,” the “Something From Tiffany’s” star told USA Today. “I’ve done as much as I could to fly under the radar. … But when I saw the billboards, I was like, ‘Oh, duh! I can do this and be my dad’s kid. I don’t have to hide.’”
And Nicholson doesn’t regret not starting younger.
“I think things happen when they do for a reason,” he told People. “If I’d had fame when I was younger, who knows? I could be dead. I feel so much for the people who had this at a young age, dealing with pictures of them coming out of bars. It’s just so hard.”
During his “CBS Mornings” appearance, Nicholson said he was focused on forging his own path, saying he and his father “don’t talk that much about acting.”
“I think probably I’d hang onto his word too much. I think it’s important for me to find my way,” he said at the time.
At the premiere for “Smile 2,” Ray told Deadline he and his dad are “very different people.”
“I was born in 1992. He was born in 1937. The things that affect me don’t necessarily affect him. Obviously, I love him. He’s my inspiration. I ate dinner with him every night. I studied it. That’s how I learned to be a human being. So, of course. we’re gonna be kind of similar.
“As far as talking about it, if he ever did tell me something, I probably wouldn’t investigate it for myself because I’d be like, ‘You’re the best. Of course, that’s right,’ and it might not work for me. I love him. He’s also my hero. I’m the luckiest kid in the world.”
As he told USA Today acting is “a love language between me and my dad, for sure. And that’s why I do it.”
Nicholson has also fully embraced the comparisons.
“He’s my favorite actor,” he told the outlet. “He is my north star. If I didn’t want to be compared to my dad, I would’ve been a veterinarian.”
