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NEED TO KNOW
James L. Brooks believes his longtime friend and collaborator Jack Nicholson is not done acting
Nicholson last appeared on the big screen in Brooks' 2010 movie How Do You Know, which was also Brooks' last movie as a writer-director before releasing Ella McCay
"I think he's one of the greatest actors we've ever had," Brooks says of the three-time Academy Award winner
Jack Nicholsonmight not have appeared in a movie sinceJames L. Brooks' 2010 comedyHow Do You Know, but as the Oscar-winning filmmaker tells PEOPLE, Nicholson hasn't "stopped" acting.
Brooks and Nicholson, both 88, built a professional collaboration and personal friendship worthy of Hollywood lore through Nicholson'sOscar-winning performances in Brooks' beloved dramediesTerms of EndearmentandAs Good as It Gets, as well as a small role inBroadcast News.
Although 15 years have passed since Nicholson last stepped onto the big screen inHow Do You Know, Brooks says the movie legend will one day grace it again.
"Oh, I don't think he stopped," Brooks says. "I mean, he's gotten scripts, he's reading them, and I'm sure we'll be seeing them."
(Brooks previously told PEOPLE in a 2023 interview that he believes Nicholson will "get itchy and scratch" his interest in acting once more.)
Brooks repeatedly refers to Nicholson as "the greatest actor of the generation" as he discusses his new film,Ella McCay,and his own directing career, which helped bring Nicholson two of his three career Academy Awards.
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The pair first met afterDebra Wingerbrought Nicholson Brooks' script for 1983'sTerms of Endearmentand convinced him to costar in the movie alongside her andShirley MacLaine.
"I didn't have a second choice," Brooks recalls. "I didn't because the guy has to have license from an audience when he walks on, and he was the only [one]. I was a fledgling [director], and I had to get the greatest guy going or not make the movie."
"He's great to work with. I once asked him — I just think it was one of the best things to say to other actors. I asked him, 'What do you do if you're in a scene and the other actor isn't particularly talented?' " Brooks recalls of an interaction with Nicholson. "And he said, 'No, no. Whatever the other actor does is perfect.' And that is not only a gorgeous answer, it's severely true."
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While Brooks tells PEOPLE he did not attend Nicholson's 88th birthday party this year, he says he and the legendary actor do "keep in touch.""I love him — he's Jack. He's Jack Nicholson, for God's sake. He actuallyisJack Nicholson! I go over and we have great visits. We do great catch-ups. We hang every once in a while," Brooks says. "He's an amazing man. He's a good artist; his painting is really really good. He's an athlete and he's well read and he's a fascinating, monumental figure."
Brooks' new movieElla McCayis in theaters now.
Read the original article onPeople
