Jack Nicholson is 88 this year. And he hasn’t been in a movie since 2010’s How Do You Know, a romcom with Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, and Owen Wilson that was directed by his longtime friend, James L. Brooks. Most people believed he retired 15 years ago, but it seems he hasn’t given up his life in front of the camera just yet. According to Brooks, Jack Nicholson is actively reading scripts and could return to acting any day now.
Unlike Daniel Day-Lewis, who retired from acting only to return in 2025 with Anemone, Nicholson never actually formally announced a retirement. He just went away for a really long time.
Now Brooks just told People he doesn’t buy the idea that Nicholson has shut the door to acting for good: “Oh, I don’t think he stopped […] I mean, he’s gotten scripts, he’s reading them, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing him.”
It probably won’t be As Good As It Gets 2, but if you’re a fan, it would probably be great seeing the legendary actor on screen again. He gave us some of the best performances in the last four decades, with roles in The Departed, The Pledge, A Few Good Men, Batman, The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Chinatown being some of his best work.
But you probably shouldn’t treat this news as gospel. Nicholson addressed his career in a September 2013 Vanity Fair article saying that he didn’t consider himself retired, he just felt less driven to “be out there anymore.”
But the fact that he’s still reading scripts is a good sign. All it takes is one A-list filmmaker calling with a part that respects his time and gives him some really good scenes to chew on. Christopher Nolan maybe? Nothing’s off the table, it seems.
Jack Nicholson could return to acting
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