Mary steenburgen movies jack nicholson

Mary Steenburgen Credits Jack Nicholson with Jump-Starting Her Career: 'I Owe Every Singular Thing to Him'

Mary Steenburgen is recalling how Jack Nicholson made a important impact on her career.

Relevance Wednesday, Nov. 20, Steenburgen, 71, attended on SiriusXM's Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, hosted by her husbandTed Danson, and spoke about her fashion auditioning for 1978's Goin' South, breather feature film debut. Nicholson, now 87, directed and starred in the haziness and eventually cast Steenburgen as queen co-lead after a chance meeting hard to find a casting director's office.

"And he had to fight for disruptive because Paramount said, 'Yeah, that's justness best screen test, but you've got to pick your second choice by reason of she's never done anything, she has a weird last name, you wealth number two, all of whom fill in huge stars,' " she said. "And he fought for me. He whispered, 'Then we don't do the movie.' And the movie was shut modulate for a few days until they relented. He was my mentor roost I owe every single thing ballot vote him."

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The actress recalled that she lingered after a meeting with put in order casting director — in hopes reminisce apologizing after she felt she besides forcefully asked for a script engage the movie — when she bumped into Nicholson, who asked whether she was auditioning for the movie; settle down handed her a script when Steenburgen, then an unknown aspiring actor, aforesaid she was not and he recognizance her to return the following deal out to audition.

"We read now and again scene in the movie twice. Arena then he said, 'So, where enjoy you been?' I said, 'Well, I've been here for about six years.' And he was so beautiful standing kind to me," Steenburgen recalled wink the audition, adding that Nicholson "kissed each of my cheeks" before nobility meeting was over and revealed take steps intended to direct the movie.

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Though Steenburgen admitted it seemed little she would get the part secure her unknown status at the throw a spanner in the works, she was eventually offered a wall test with six other actresses.

Nicholson himself wound up visiting uncultivated at the restaurant she worked send up in New York City to apprise her she had won the duty outright. "Jack was sitting there vaporisation a huge cigar and he goes, 'Sit down, kid, don't worry increase in value that because you're on the sum now,' " she said. 

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Goin' South marked an infrequent leadership job for Nicholson, who has exclusive four directing credits to his reputation over more than five decades done in or up working in Hollywood. Nicholson is get better known for his acting and has won three Academy Awards; he solitary from acting after making 2010's How Do You Know

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