‘Smile 2’ Star Ray Nicholson on Being Inspired by Father Jack Nicholson: “My Hero”

We’ve seen that smile before… sort of.

While on the red carpet for the next Smile 2the sequel to the Sosie Bacon-led horror film about a smiling harbinger of death, star Ray Nicholson was asked about his approach to the genre and how fans compared the smile on his character’s poster to that of his demented father, Jack Nicholson. Sly smile for Stanley Kubrick’s seminal film The Shining.

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“We are very different people,” the actor told Deadline at the premiere. “I was born in 1992, he was born in 1937. The things that affect me don’t necessarily affect him. Obviously, I love him. He is my inspiration. I had dinner with him every night. I studied, that’s how I learned to be human. So of course we will be similar.”

But Nicholson, whose credits include Licorice Pizza and Promising Young Womanadmitted that he is not sure if he wants to face his father’s repertoire. (And who would do that? With three Oscar wins and a string of iconic films in One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, Chinatown, terms of endearment, some good men, as good as it gets, Those who left and Something has to give.)

“As for talking about it, if he ever told me something, I probably wouldn’t look into it myself, because I’d say, ‘You’re the best, of course, you’re right,’ and it might not be. work for me,” Nicholson said. “I love him. He’s also my hero. I’m the luckiest boy in the world.”

Smile 2releasing in theaters October 18, unfolds as global pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) faces the inexplicable and escalating effects of dealing with a frightening, smiling figure who follows her wherever she goes. The Paramount sequel also stars Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo and Dylan Gelula.

Watch the clip of Nicholson on the carpet below:

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