Danny DeVito is giving fans a rare update on his friendship with famed actor, Jack Nicholson.
“I just saw Jack a couple weeks ago — it was his birthday a month ago, and he’s great,” DeVito, 80, told People in an interview published on Saturday, July 12.
DeVito first met and worked with Nicholson, 88, more than 50 years ago on the set of the iconic film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Batman Returns star said that his fellow actors Christopher Lloyd and Brad Dourif were “in awe” of Nicholson while working on the project.
“We’re in the presence of this guy who’s really at his moment, where he was breaking out into the big time,” DeVito recalled of meeting with Nicholson. “There was no need for an icebreaker. He was immediately just so embracing.”
He continued, “He started out exactly the way everybody else did, where he couldn’t get a job. It was like he came to Hollywood and he was going to just write and direct, and then Easy Rider comes along after the Corman stuff … So he was in our milieu, and he was always just as open and genuine, and we all felt it immediately.”
DeVito said that, in the end, “of course” Nicholson was welcoming “because he’s that way.”
“He was also doing it because that had to be, because we had to be all joined at the hip in that movie, and we had such great performances,” he explained.
A Hollywood legend, Nicholson has retreated from the spotlight as of late, making only the rare public appearance. The actor did, however, appear on-camera during the live broadcast of SNL50: The Anniversary Special in February, celebrating five decades of the sketch comedy show alongside some of the biggest names in entertainment.
“Ladies and gentleman, Adam Sandler,” Nicholson said to the cameras while seated in the crowd alongside his daughter, Lorraine, who rubbed his shoulder in encouragement during his on-screen appearance and introduction.
The pair — Nicholson shares Lorraine, 34, with ex Rebecca Broussard — sat near Will Farrell, Robert De Niro and his partner, Tiffany Chen. Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively and SNL alum Rachel Dratch completed the back-to-back rows.
(Nicholson also shares son Ray with Broussard, daughter Jennifer with Sandra Knight, son Caleb with Susan Anspach, daughter Honey with Winnie Hollman and daughter Tessa with Jennine Gourin.)
“Yeah, baby! Let’s hear it for Jack, baby,” Sandler quipped ahead of his performance. “Jack made it out tonight. Love you, brother.”
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