This anecdote reminds us why Jack Nicholson is one of the greatest actors of all time

We almost did not introduce Jack Nicholson, the legend of American cinema, three Oscars and roles that went down in the history of cinema. In 1992, he was one of the leads in Men of Honor, directed by the fine craftsman, Rob Reiner.

After trying his hand at a drama (Stand by Me), a romantic comedy (When Harry Met Sally) and a fantasy film (The Princess Bride), the latter this time took on an experimental film inspired by “authentic stories”.

Or two military lawyers sent to the US base at Guantanamo Bay to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a Marine who died after being attacked in his room by two other colleagues.

Faced with a wall of silence from officers and soldiers, there is only one way out: to take the stand of the man in charge of the base himself, Colonel Nathan Jessup, authoritarian, arrogant and full of himself. Everyone obeys with a finger and an eye.

“These walls must be guarded by armed men!”

In addition to Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Bacon and JT Walsh, Jack Nicholson plays a terrible colonel, confident in his rights, full of arrogance. A performance of barely fifteen minutes, but oh so memorable.

Especially during the Tom Cruise-led interrogation scene where Nicholson vents his anger. Nicholson’s performance is so brilliant that he got into it 2003 AFI ranking of the 100 Greatest Heroes and Villains of American Cinema.

Here again for fun..

A few years ago, the director behind the scenes of this famous scene and Nicholson’s participation in it moved to the show. The Rich Eisen Show. When Reiner explained to Nicholson that he could relax behind the camera while doing part of the scene with Tom Cruise, Nicholson didn’t see it that way.

“Listen Jack, I’m giving you a choice. Either I’ll shoot you as soon as you’re ready. But if you want time to get into character even more for rehearsal, I’ll shoot the reactions. I’ll shoot you first and then I’ll shoot you.

So I started shooting this scene for the first time, Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollack… and meanwhile, behind the camera, Jack is doing the exact same performance that you see on stage. He gives everything.

After a few takes, I said, “Jack, maybe you want to save yourself a little while we have the camera on you?” He said, Rob, you don’t understand. I love the game! I don’t often get the opportunity to take on a big role.”