Ray Nicholson Was “Scared” to Tell His Dad Jack Nicholson He Wanted to Pursue Acting

Ray Nicholson was initially hesitant to tell his father, Oscar-winning actor Jack Nicholson, that he wanted to get into the family business. The Mosquito Bowl star opened up about how he initially thought he was going to pursue football in college during a conversation with his sister, Lorraine Nicholson, for Interview magazine. That all changed after he suffered an injury that nearly required his arm to be amputated, Ray says. “I thought that I was going to go to Boston College and play football,” he began. “I love sports so much. It’s also the language of love that me and dad share. We can’t talk about a lot, but we can talk about the fucking Lakers until kingdom come. But anyway, we have this very Friday Night Lights moment, 4th and 1, and we lose the game… I go home with mom, and by the time I get home, I can’t move my arm. I go to mom, I’m like, ‘I think I broke my elbow.’ We went to the hospital right away and they sent us out because I had a staph infection that got so bad it turned into MRSA, and I had to have 24-hour nurses. They put a mark on my arm that was like, ‘If it gets past here, we’re cutting your arm.'” Ray admitted he had “this voice-of-God moment” and he thought, “You don’t want to do this. You want to be an actor.” After that, he said he was worried about telling The Shining star about his acting ambitions. “I was really scared to tell dad. But I went to USC and learned to love everything about filmmaking,” Ray said. “My education really taught me that dad isn’t God. He’s not the only thing in this film industry. He’s a beautiful part of it, but a very small part. Yes, of course, making dad proud is high on my list, but this is really a way of finding who I am.” The three-time Oscar winner has largely stayed out of the spotlight in recent years. One of Jack’s last public appearances was the Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary special in February 2025. A month before that, Lorraine shared a photo with her father on Instagram. Michael Douglas, with whom Jack collaborated on 1975’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, recently gave an update on the actor. “I would have liked to have acted with Jack,” Douglas said, per The Independent, while promoting his memoir. “He’s not working any more. He’s well. He has disappeared. I know that.” “I still see him, but he is fine,” Douglas added. “He is up there by his house and walking around in his slippers. It happens. He deserves it. I understand. He is a few years older than me, but I understand.” In April, Lorraine shared a photo of her father on her Instagram Story to commemorate his 89th birthday.