Interview: Nick Nolte

Congratulations on the Oscar nomination for ‘Warrior’. Would you bet on you to win?

‘No, I wouldn’t! You’ve got two older actors in there and I think it’s [Christopher] Plummer’s time. Best Supporting Actor is a heavy category this year. Plus, age enters into it and feelings that this person has been supportive of the film industry – being a rebel doesn’t help…’

Are you a gambler?

‘Not when I can’t win. When I was doing [Neil Jordan drama] “The Good Thief”, I learnt to count cards. I was playing casinos in Nice, winning a thousand every now and again, until they found me out and kept changing the dealers at my table. I caught the boss’s eye and he was smiling, like: “You’re done”.’

Did you have reservations about doing TV after so many years in film?

‘Well, this is how naive I am. I just assumed the show would be picked up, then when I was talking to the older character actors that work on these series, they were sweating it out. I didn’t know how precarious it was [chuckles].’

David Milch’s scripts are extremely dense and uncompromising for TV.

‘A gal said to me the other day, “I didn’t understand it. Is it right for those deviant people [in the show] to win two million dollars?” Well, sure, why not? Let’s see what they do with it! She’d been spoonfed this storytelling where you know the heroes and villains from the outset. With Milch, everyone’s a bit of both.’

Is it fun to have the time to explore a character like Walter over a series?

‘Oh, yeah. I found myself in these read-throughs, not knowing where my character was going to go. It was a bit uncomfortable, but a lot more like life – we don’t often know our destination. But I did spend the summer worrying about how to keep Walter alive. I’ve got a little involved in writing for the next season, but I’m going to get really feisty if my stuff gets pulled.’

The cast is incredible. Can you still learn from working with people like Dustin Hoffman or Dennis Farina?

‘Sure. Hoffman is pretty relaxed, he’s pretty good. He’ll fumble around in rehearsals, but when it’s showtime, he’s right there. And when we get a scene that flows naturally, that’s the juice actors live off. Anyone far enough along in this profession knows to just let it loose and trust the moment. If you try too hard, people will see through it.’

Do you buy into the idea of acting as being cathartic?

‘I know it’s cathartic, there’s no question about it. I don’t have the slightest idea what I would have done in life otherwise. There was a period where they were going to ask me to take a gun and go shoot somebody [in Vietnam]. I would rather go on the stage and shoot someone, that’s very cathartic. Acting is a bit of a substitute for life.’

You had some near misses with megastardom in huge studio films such as ‘Superman’ and ‘Star Wars’. Does it bother you that you never took those parts?

‘No, I saw how the studios were moving in a cartoonish direction. I wasn’t going to fit into that, so before they kicked me off the A-list I decided to go into independent film, but slowly that has died and it is hard to raise a budget. [Pixar kingpin Jeffrey] Katzenberg gave a speech a few years ago talking about how writers might be affected by 3D and how they could use it to retell all the stories they’ve told. This was the technology that was going to propel the industry forward. With 3D, all you’re doing is trying to shock the audience, there’s no value to the storytelling. There are studies being done in Australia questioning the process of 3D TV and film. 3D is not a natural effect. It’s a trick played upon the brain – they’re thinking now that six hours of it might cause psychotic states. People are all over my ass for saying that! I’m gonna have to come up with the proof now.’

What ambitions do you have left?

‘There’s some good stories to tell, especially stories of ageing. In America, the old are neglected. [Robert] Redford has a beautiful story called “A Walk in the Woods”, about two 70-year-old men who decide to walk the Appalachian Trail. He was going to do it with Newman but Paul died, so he approached me.’

Do you feel lucky?

‘[Laughs] Yeah, I do. If you can still take a breath, you gotta feel lucky. Ageing’s a difficult thing, moving closer to death, but it’s okay. I’ve had a good time living, so I’m gonna have a good time dying.’

‘Luck’, starts Saturday February 18, 9pm, Sky Atlantic