About Nicholson: You Don't Know Jack
In Hollywood circles, Jack Nicholson is rumored to be as talented in the boudoir as he is on the set. But the fact of the matter is, his reputation as a playboy could be somewhat exaggerated. That's right — though he has been linked romantically with A-list sweethearts from Anjelica Huston to Lara Flynn Boyle, the dirty dawg might actually be a pussycat!
Here's how we know: Back when the About Schmidt leading man was shooting a scene for 1997's As Good as It Gets with blonde bombshell Julie Benz (Steven Spielberg's Taken), his true colors showed and — surprise, surprise — they weren't red-light-district crimson. "He didn't hit on me," Benz tells TV Guide Online, sounding for all the world like a high school girl stood up on prom night. "I was very disappointed. I think he thought I was really young."
Still, the three-time Oscar winner made quite an impression on the baby-faced starlet, then 27. "I was trying to be all cool," she recalls, "and I kept saying to myself, 'He's just a man like any man. He's just an actor. It's not a big deal.' But after he introduced himself, I went to stand up, and my mouth went dry and the room started to spin. All I could say was, 'Oh my God, you're Jack Nicholson!' He was like, 'Yes, honey, I am.'"
As if that weren't embarrassing enough, Benz continues, mortified by her over-the-top reaction to the long-in-the-tooth matinee idol: "Later on, he said, 'Honey, no woman's ever looked at me the way you do.' I was like, 'Oh yeah, they have, Jack — just behind your back. I'm the only one stupid enough to do it this blatantly!'" And that, folks, is as bad as it gets!
