Jack Nicholson’s Lookalike Son Ray Makes Candid Confession About Famous Father

Michelle Stein November 13, 2026, 9:23 am

Jack Nicholson an Ray Nicholson — Kevork S. Djansezian/Getty Images; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

What To Know

Ray Nicholson said he and his father, Jack Nicholson, can’t take about a lot — except for one topic.
Ray abandoned a college football career to pursue acting and studied filmmaking at the University of Southern California.
While making his father proud is important to him, Ray said acting is also a way to discover his own identity.

Jack Nicholson‘s lookalike son, Ray Nicholson, made a candid confession about his famous father.

During a sit-down with Interview magazine published on November 11, Ray, 34, admitted that he and the As Good as It Gets actor “can’t talk about much.” They do, however, share a common passion.

“I love sports so much. It’s also the language of love that me and Dad share,” he explained. “We can’t talk about a lot, but we can talk about the f***ing Lakers until kingdom come.”

Additionally, Ray opened up about realizing he wanted to abandon a football career in college and pursue acting instead.

“It was this voice-of-God moment that was like, ‘You don’t want to do this. You want to be an actor,’” he said. “I was really scared to tell Dad. But I went to [the University of Southern California] and learned to love everything about filmmaking. My education really taught me that Dad isn’t God. He’s not the only thing in this film industry. He’s a beautiful part of it, but a very small part.”

Of the pressure that comes with following in his father’s footsteps, Ray acknowledged, “Yes, 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’m on the right path to that.”

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See Jack Nicholson's Lookalike Grandson in His First Lead Role

Jack, 89, has six children: Tessa Gourin, 31, with Jennine Gourin; Lorraine Nicholson, 35, and Ray, 33, with actress Rebecca Broussard; Honey Hollman, 44, with model Winnie Hollman; Caleb Goddard, 55, with his Five Easy Pieces costar, Susan Anspach; and Jennifer Nicholson, 62, with his ex-wife, Sandra Knight.

In addition to As Good as It Gets (1997), Jack is known for his roles in films like Easy Rider (1969), Chinatown (1974), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), The Shining (1980), Batman (1989), A Few Good Men (1922), and The Departed (2006), among others. He stepped away from acting in 2010, after his movie How Do You Know.