Actor Nick Nolte
has written a memoir entitled, “Rebel: My Life Outside The Lines”. On January 31st, Nolte did a Q
& A at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, talking about his book,
life, and career.
Nolte shared
stories about growing up in the rural Midwest, and his childhood. His father went off to serve in World War II
when Nolte was 4 years old. His father
returned from service with a lot of scars and demons. Nolte’s mother was a daily drinker and user
of Dexedrine, which she would give to Nolte, telling him the tabs were
vitamins. Nolte stated that he was allowed to openly drink alcohol since he was
15. He talked about his own struggles
with addiction throughout his life.
Nolte shared that
he never started out wanting to be an actor.
He had dreams of being a football star, and played football in high
school. He even went to several colleges
on football scholarships, but admits his grades weren’t overwhelming, so he
dropped out. A year after leaving
Pasadena City College, a friend asked him to go with him to an acting class
taught by Bryan O’Byrne. “Bryan gave me
a script to read. I was nervous, but I gave it a shot. That was a turning point
for me.” Nolte said this is when he knew
he wanted to pursue acting, saying that he loved being able to hide behind the
characters and become somebody else. He
said, “I had become an actor because real life was hard for me. Sometimes it
was really rough. Acting was different from real life."
Nolte’s big break
came when he was cast in the 1976 miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man, which launched him to stardom. Nolte was 35 years old at the time, and
played a high school aged character on the show. He was asked about how he had pulled that off
believably given his real age. He
replied, “Well, I thought about what I looked like in high school. Really thin.
Hair. It helped that I looked
very young to begin with, but I lost a lot of weight to look less muscular, and
it all worked.”
Nolte is a committed
actor, willing to go to extremes for a role.
He talked about some the things he has done in order to prepare for
parts, like for Down and Out in Beverly
Hills he lived on the streets for some time in order to connect with the
experience of being homeless, he didn't shower during filming, and ate real dog
food in a scene. Nolte shared stories from
various film sets, including divulging one of the elaborate pranks he was
involved in with Woody Harrelson and Sean Penn on the set of The Thin Red Line that ended at a police
station.
Nowadays, Nolte
enjoys spending time with his daughter, Sophie.
Nolte said fatherhood and close brushes with death compelled him to
break his habits. He said, “The only thing I’m living for now is my daughter.” Currently, Nolte is working on a film in which
he stars with Sophie. No word on when
that might be released. His memoir is
out now.
Labels: Celebrity Author
