Jack Nicholson Considered Calming Down After Tim Burton's Batman, But He Never Really Did

Jack Nicholson has had one of the more varied careers in Hollywood. He has appeared in smaller, intense independent dramas, broad comedies, Oscar-bait films, surreal experimental movies (have you seen the Monkees movie "Head," which Nicholson co-wrote?), and several well-moneyed Hollywood blockbusters. Indeed, Nicholson was involved in one of the more notable blockbusters of all time, Tim Burton's 1989 film "Batman," where he played the Joker. Famously, Nicholson managed to negotiate a cut of the film's merchandising profits into his salary, making him a very, very rich man. 

Nicholson has a talent for playing intense types of characters. He can be friendly or threatening, but he is an expert in taking up a room. In a way, his performance in Alexander Payne's 2002 dramedy "About Schmidt" might be his best, as it's the one notable time he's played a deliberately dull, buttoned-down character. 

Given Nicholson's stature as a celebrity, one might think the actor had free reign to select whatever projects he wanted. If he wanted to appear as the Joker in a Batman film, then he was either drawn to the role, interested in comic book material, or keen to work with an iconoclastic director like Burton. To an outsider's eye, Nicholson's roles appear to all have been deliberately selected and offered him a great deal of variety. 

Nicholson seems to have a different view of his own roles. Back in 2004 in an interview with Total Film, Nicholson expressed trepidation about his career surrounding "Batman" and felt he wasn't being as interesting an actor as perhaps he could have been. Although he likes "Batman," and he liked playing the Joker, he began to feel the crunch of being typecast into maniac characters. 

Before 1989's "Batman," Jack Nicholson's career was already on a hot streak. In 1988, he was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in Héctor Babenco's "Ironweed," where he played opposite Meryl Streep. Prior to that, he had a small role in James L. Brooks' "Broadcast News." Perhaps Nicholson regrets playing the Devil in George Miller's wild witchcraft comedy, "The Witches of Eastwick." He certainly didn't play a kooky character in Brooks' 1984 Best Picture winner, "Terms of Endearment" — that one won him an Academy Award. 

After "Batman," Nicholson also appeared in Mike Nichols' werewolf film, "Wolf," although which of these films Nicholson considered "fooling around" remains unknown. Nicholson said to Total Film:

"Around the time of 'Batman' I realized I was fooling around careerwise. It was great work and a great film but I didn't want to be seen as this crazy, Joker figure anymore. I think I had a conversation with myself, a real heart-to-heart, and decided I didn't like people thinking of me as a fool. I'd done such good work, whether it was 'Goin' South' or 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' or 'Easy Rider' ... But I think I was kind of losin' it a little in the quality department. I was doing some movies that I should have backed away from."

In terms of being "silly" or "fooling around," perhaps one can point to Tim Burton's 1996 film "Mars Attacks!" wherein Nicholson played dual roles as the President and as a greasy Las Vegas real estate tycoon. Those characters, of course, were clearly an excuse for Nicholson to cut loose and have fun. It was also another performance in a Burton film, a director he clearly enjoyed working with.

It seems that Jack Nicholson has largely been keen on working with interesting directors. He made multiple films with Bob Rafelson, the two for Tim Burton, and several with James L. Brooks. He seems to appreciate working with directors who have strong voices. He said as much in the Total Film interview: 

"I think there are still people like that. None of the people you mentioned is any more a personal director than Sean Penn or James L. Brooks or Nancy Meyers. I mean, Nancy is tough with her vision. She has a very clear one, she has total integrity. It's the uniqueness of the movie that makes it personal to me. These people here, to take the three I've mentioned, are unique. The amazing thing about Jim and Nancy is that they're also understood by a lot of people and that's really the toughest trick in the movie business." 

Nicholson had appeared in "The Crossing Guard" and "The Pledge" for Penn, and, at the time of the interview, had just completed making "Something's Gotta Give" with Meyers. 

He had also starred in Peter Segal's "Anger Management," which, matching his thesis, played into Nicholson's talents for playing maniacs. "Management" was a broad comedy starring Adam Sandler as a man with anger issues and Nicholson as his weird live-in therapist. Perhaps Nicholson was keen to avoid roles like his character in Segal's film, as it saw him coasting on reputation rather than engaging with the material. 

Did Nicholson ever "calm down?" Not really. He always managed to play dark, intense characters after "Batman." But then, he was known for that before "Batman" as well. He did, however, start seeking out smaller, non-mainstream projects throughout the 1990s. 

There is no doubt that he was always in control.