Jack Nicholson\u2019s son, Ray Nicholson, offered a rare glimpse into his relationship with his father, revealing that although they \u201ccan\u2019t talk about a lot,\u201d sports are their shared \u201clove language.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ray, 34, sat down for an interview with his sister, Lorraine Nicholson, for Interview<\/a> magazine in a new story published this week, where they discussed his acting career, love for football, and their family.<\/p>\n Obsessed with celebrity news? Download our new app<\/a> and never miss a headline<\/p>\n \u201cI love sports so much. It\u2019s also the language of love that me and dad share. We can\u2019t talk about a lot, but we can talk about the f**king Lakers until kingdom come,\u201d Nicholson said in the piece, as he was describing his sports career.<\/p>\n Ray played football in high school, and was so serious about it that he thought that he was going to play the sport at Boston College.<\/p>\n However, his career ended abruptly after a severe staph infection in his arm turned into MRSA, and they nearly had to amputate.<\/p>\n \u201cThey put a mark on my arm that was like, \u2018If it gets past here, we\u2019re cutting your arm,\u2019\u201d he said during the interview.<\/p>\n But after his injury, the Smile 2 star described having a \u201cvoice-of-god moment\u201d that led him into his true passion in life \u2014 acting.<\/p>\n However, he admitted that he was nervous to share this news with his father.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really scared to tell dad,\u201d Ray admitted. \u201cBut I went to USC and learned to love everything about filmmaking. My education really taught me that dad isn\u2019t god. He\u2019s not the only thing in this film industry. He\u2019s a beautiful part of it, but a very small part.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, of course, making dad proud is high on my list, but this is really a way of finding who I am. And I feel that I\u2019m on the right path to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Ray\u2019s interview with his sister comes on the heels of his role in the new Netflix film The Mosquito Bowl.<\/p>\n In the movie, Ray plays football player Tony Butkovich, who was a college football star at the University of Illinois and Purdue University.<\/p>\n He was drafted by the Cleveland Rams in the first round of the 1944 NFL draft, but instead enlisted in the US Marines and fought in World War II.<\/p>\n The film follows four elite college football players who enlist in the Marines to serve in the war, based on Buzz Bissinger\u2019s 2022 best-selling nonfiction book.<\/p>\n It was directed by Peter Berg.<\/p>\n Last month, Ray admitted that he felt like acting was the \u201cthing\u201d that took his dad \u201caway from [my] home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I had every right to be a little trepidatious. I grew up around it. It was the thing that made my family different,\u201d he told USA Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the thing that took my dad away from my home. So, of course, I had different feelings about it.\u201d<\/p>\n