Nicholson and "Showgirls"
I sat through a memorable showing of Showgirls once at Robert Evans' Beverly Hills home in the early fall of '95. In Evans' legendary rear bungalow, that is, behind his egg-shaped pool in the backyard of his French chateau-styled place on Woodland Avenue. With Jack Nicholson of all people, as well as Bryan Singer, Chris McQuarrie, Tom DeSanto and two or three others. With everyone hating it but sitting through the damn thing anyway because Nicholson had come over to see it and nobody wanted to be contrary.
All that ended when Nicholson, who was sitting right under the projection window against the rear wall, stretched his arms and put his two hands right in front of the lamp. The resulting hand-silhouette on top of Elizabeth Berkeley and her grinding costars conveyed his opinion well enough, and suddenly everyone felt at liberty to talk and groan and make cracks and leave for cigarette breaks. Nicholson and Singer ducked out at one point, and I joined them. (I had recently seen Paul Verhoeven's film and had no desire to suffer a second time.)
I was Evans' journalist pal that year. I had written a big piece about Hollywood Republicans earlier that year for Los Angeles magazine, and Evans had been a very helpful source. As a favor I'd arranged for him to meet some just-emerging GenX filmmakers -- Owen Wilson, Don Murphy, Jane Hamsher, et. al. -- so that maybe, just maybe, he could possibly talk about making films with them down the road.
Anyway, it was sometime in late September and Evans, myself, Singer, DeSanto and McQuarrie were having dinner in the back house, and Evans was doing a superb job of not asking the younger guys anything about themselves. He spoke only about his past, his lore, his legend. But the food was excellent and the vibe was cool and settled.
Then out of the blue (or out of the black of night) a window opened and Nicholson, wearing his trademark shades, popped his head in and announced to everyone without saying hello that "you guys should finish...don't worry, don't hurry or anything...we'll just be in the house...take your time."
What? Singer, McQuarrie and DeSanto glanced at each other. Did that just happen? Evans told us that Nicholson was there to watch Showgirls, which they'd made arrangements for much earlier. He invited us stay and watch if we wanted. Nobody wanted to sit through Showgirls -- the word was out on it -- but missing out on the Nicholson schmooze time was, of course, out of the question.
There was a little talk after it ended. I recall DeSanto (Apt Pupil, X-Men, X2, Transformers) introducing himself to Nicholson and Jack, who had brought two women with him, saying, "And it's very nice to meet you, Tom." Gesturing towards Girl #1, he then said to DeSanto, "And I'd like you to meet Cindy and..." Lethal pause. Nicholson had forgotten the other woman's name. He recovered by grinning and saying with a certain flourish, "Well, these are the girls!" The woman he'd blanked on gave Nicholson an awful look.
We all said goodbye in the foyer of Evans' main home. Nicholson's mood was giddy, silly; he was laughing like a teenaged kid who'd just chugged two 16-ounce cans of beer and didn't care about anything. I was thinking it must be fun to be able to pretty much follow whatever urge or mood comes to mind, knowing that you probably won't be turned down or told "no" as long as you use a little charm.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 1, 2007 at 4:27 PM
comment #1
goodvibe61
says ...
Seems like every time I drop by here these days I get the feeling I'm at the internet version of Showtime after dark...
Posted by goodvibe61
at August 1, 2007 6:01 PM
comment #2
Edward Havens
says ...
The next few hours of people asking what the hell this has to do with anything should be fun...
Posted by Edward Havens
at August 1, 2007 7:03 PM
comment #3
ZacharyTF
says ...
I would love to have been there that night. I imagine Jack Nicholson would be a blast to hang around with.
Posted by ZacharyTF
at August 1, 2007 7:36 PM
comment #4
ZacharyTF
says ...
If you look at the post beneath this one Edward, you'll see why Jeff posted.
Posted by ZacharyTF
at August 1, 2007 7:39 PM
comment #5
DarthCorleone
says ...
Why would we care "what the hell this has to do with anything?" It's a good story! I'll bet he has a few more like these in the memory banks that would be fun reads. Thanks for sharing it, Jeff.
Posted by DarthCorleone
at August 1, 2007 8:47 PM
comment #6
iamjoe
says ...
Jack is the example of ultimate self-realization;
He can and does what ever he feels he.
All hail Jack Nicholson!
Posted by iamjoe
at August 1, 2007 9:49 PM
comment #7
Zimmergirl
says ...
Ah, great story. You really should put this all down in a book.
Posted by Zimmergirl
at August 1, 2007 10:02 PM
comment #8
Jammo44
says ...
I bet Jack Nicholson is blogging on his computer right now boasting about his encounter with the legendary Jeffrey Wells...
Posted by Jammo44
at August 1, 2007 10:27 PM
comment #9
erikwithak
says ...
Jeff, thats one of my favorite things you've written in a long time. Well done.
Posted by erikwithak
at August 1, 2007 10:39 PM
comment #10
MAGGA
says ...
I am starting to love these weird stories Jeffrey tells about his past. To me, though (an I love Jack Nicholson, for the record), this seems to be a story about how everyone will fall all over themselves to admire a person they, or at least Jeff, would have despised if they did not already admire them. I mean the guy keeps watching Showgirls and forgets who people are, does not act "serious" etc. I also agree that we all secretly want to have that power.
Posted by MAGGA
at August 1, 2007 10:44 PM
comment #11
T. Holly
says ...
So it's a movie and dinner. Everyone's watching Showgirls, but Jack, Bryan and Jeff duck out. Then dinner is served, and everyone thinks Jack's back to watching Showgirls, but actually the girls have arrived and Jack's going to the main house with them. Later, everyone's in the foyer and the good journalist is pushing off.
You can take the girl out of the editing room but you can't take the editor out of the girl.
Posted by T. Holly
at August 1, 2007 11:43 PM
comment #12
Wolfie X
says ...
McQuarrie's kinda gay, right?
Posted by Wolfie X
at August 2, 2007 2:05 AM
comment #13
Movie Watcher
says ...
Showgirls? He watched that movie? Why? Man, stars can do anything, and people still hang out with them. Damn!
Posted by Movie Watcher
at August 2, 2007 5:27 AM
comment #14
maribou
says ...
That's an awesome story! My favorite line is "in Evans' legendary rear bungalow" - lol.
Posted by maribou
at August 2, 2007 7:03 AM
comment #15
nemo
says ...
Jack Nicholson: Napoleon Dynamite as an old man.
Posted by nemo
at August 2, 2007 7:50 AM
comment #16
Mike Schaefer
says ...
So, was Singer still closeted at that point? or did they want a gay guy's opinion of whether "Showgirls" was camp?
Posted by Mike Schaefer
at August 2, 2007 8:23 AM
comment #17
jeffmcm
says ...
And they wonder why people hate Hollywood.
Posted by jeffmcm
at August 2, 2007 2:12 PM
comment #18
Mark B
says ...
Let's face it. Jack Nicholson is one of the biggest enigmas of all time. Any little anecdotes (such as Jeff's) involving him are fascinating because he does a brilliant job of making himself inscrutable. He doesn't do talk shows. Heck, he doesn't even do interviews at all except once in a blue moon. This in turns builds up the "Jack mystique", which itself sometimes runs of the risk of overshadowing the brilliance of Jack the actor. Fortunately, films like ABOUT SCHMIDT prove that the man can still surprise us. He's a gifted and brilliant actor, and anyone who's seen ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST can never deny that fact.
Posted by Mark B
at August 2, 2007 9:54 PM
comment #19
dd
says ...
To me, though (an I love Jack Nicholson, for the record), this seems to be a story about how everyone will fall all over themselves to admire a person they, or at least Jeff, would have despised if they did not already admire them. I mean the guy keeps watching Showgirls and forgets who people are, does not act "serious" etc. I also agree that we all secretly want to have that power.
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Posted by dd
at May 12, 2010 1:07 AM