FEATURE NICK NOLTE
his son‘s life. All far removed from the relaxed. joking, smoking figure before me, a man who began just over a year ago to make twice daily visits to Alcoholics Anonymous and who now calls his five-year-old son. Brawley. ‘my best buddy’.
‘It‘s always in retrospect that I can look and see what theme I‘ve been following. and I can see interconnections to all the films I‘ve done.‘ he explains. hinting that his relationship with his son may have guided his more recent choices. ‘It seemed like these last three films were all family-oriented — one. the disintegration of family; one. the healing offamily: the next. the family selflessness.‘
The Nolte method of role preparation has gained something ofnotoriety in Hollywood circles. Like his Cape Fear co-star De Niro. he is adept at gaining and losing weight — 23(llbs on last year‘s Q&/l became l8lllbs for Prince of Tides— and he always immerses himselfin his characters environment in the months prior to shooting. This may be acceptable when it involves a few weeks with the San Francisco Police Department before 48 Hours. but a fortnight sleeping rough on Skid Row to prepare for Down
and Out in Beverly Hills? Or getting involved in bar-room brawls because of racist statements while under the guise of Q&A ‘s bigoted cop Mike Brennan?
Preparation for Prince of Tides brought him closer to home. Based at his house some 100 miles from Beaufort. South
‘I am certitiable. For years they’ve been trying to put me on lithium —not my drug of choice!’
Carolina. the hometown of Pat Conroy. on whose best-selling
novel the film is based. and the
i scene of much location shooting.
he met up with the shrimpers and teachers who would flesh out the character. Like Tom
Wingo. a former football coach.
Nolte had a background in the sport - for five years he was taken on by different colleges on a football scholarship. played for a season. then flunked out. In Prince of Tides. he strikes up a relationship with his sister‘s psychiatrist. Susan Lowenstein (played by Barbra Streisand. who also directed the movie). Both his and Lowenstein‘s marriages are in tatters. but together they heal the wounds by falling in love. Sentimental. yes; but Nolte brings the role an
emotional credibility that has already won him a coveted Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for Best Actor — one of eight the film has received in total.
‘I have nothing against the Academy, and part of me responds to it by saying “It‘s wonderful".’ he says. putting the awards into context. ‘I will participate in it because I‘m 50 now and not as much a rebel as
before. But another part of me is i
very. very leery to keep a perspective on why I‘m an actor. and that l have to redefine year after year after year because when you’re hot. the perspective changes. And I‘ve been hot/ cold. hot/cold. hot/cold . . . [got into acting because of theatre and literature. and what it had to say about the human condition.‘ And ifon 30 March. as seems increasingly likely. Nolte finds himselfstanding onstage clasping his Oscar. the words whispered to him at a previous ceremony by Robert Mitchum —
an actor to whom he‘s often
been compared — will no doubt be knocking around his head: ‘It’s all a bunch ofbullshit.‘
Prince of Tides opens widely across Scotland on Friday 28 February .
THE FILMS 0F NICK NOLTE
Alter years performing in provincial theatres, Nolte landed the role of Tom 1 Jordache in the 1975 TV mini-series Rich Man Poor Man. Since then he has made 22 lilms, including:
The Deep (1977)
Who'll Stop The Rain (1978)
Heart Beat (1979)
48 Hours (1982)
Under Fire (1983)
Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986) Extreme Prejudice (1987)
Farewell to the King (1988)
Three Fugitives (1989)
Everybody Wins (1990)
08A (1990) 5 Prince oi Tides (1991) ! Cape Fear (1991) Lorenzo's Oil (1992) ‘
dance lactory
and POLA JONES present
12'l'hc List 28 February— 12 March 1992
GLASGOW ROYAL CONCE RT HALL - WEDNé?%i.‘iiillfi§£fi 8pm
EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE
FRIDAY 6th MARCH 8pm Box Office 031-557 2590