As ‘Smile 2’ continues to scare audiences in the theatres, director Parker Finn reveals the reason behind casting Jack Nicholson’s son Ray in the horror sequel.
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Actor Ray Nicholson, son of Hollywood veteran Jack Nicholson, essays Paul Hudson, a former boyfriend of Naomi Scott’s pop star Skye Riley in ‘Smile 2’ – the role he got as a homage to Parker Finn’s ‘favourite film of all time’, Stanley Kubrick’s classic, ‘The Shining’, starring his father.
“I think I’m always trying to reference The Shining,” Finn said in a new conversation. “Of course, Jack Nicholson is one of my favourite actors of all time, I love that Ray has very strong genes, and his smile, instantly, I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s like looking at a young Jack’.”
“As I was working with my costume designer, Alexis Forte, we started trying stuff on Ray for that scene, and as soon as we put what became the costume in the film on him, we were like, ‘Oh my God, this is The Shining. He looks exactly like Jack,” he recalled.
However, the director mentioned that despite the eerie smile of Ray to the camera, a ‘mirror image’ to that of his father in ‘The Shining’, he had not written the role for him originally. But the ‘Something from Tiffany’s’ actor auditioned for it and it was ‘so strong’, it all turned out to be a ‘wonderful kismet’, which worked in their favour.
“What really struck me was how well he slipped into that venomous but charming character he’s playing in the film. He could bring again that feeling of, I’m really, really anxious, but part of it is also tickling me,” Finn added about Ray.
Speaking about the uncanny resemblance with his Hollywood royalty dad, Ray earlier said on the film’s premiere night, “He’s my inspiration. I ate dinner with him every night. I studied it, that’s how I learned to be a human being. So, of course, we’re gonna be kind of similar.”
A sequel to the wildly popular supernatural horror flick ‘Smile’ (2022), also featuring Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Gallner, Lukas Gage, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo and Dylan Gelula, released last week and is now playing in theatres worldwide.
