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Dan Higgins talks to Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson about sex, Heath Ledger and his new film The Bucket List

Seeing as the film deals with lists of things to do and things you have done what would be on your list of things still left to do?
Well, I did meet Princess Diana. She was a charming woman. I don’t make lists. People ask me what picture I like but since they came relatively late in life I wanted to live long enough to see my children graduate, go to high-school, stuff like that. I always wanted to speak another language, learn how to cook. I actually worked professionally as a cook… that was hot dogs, hamburgers, so forth but I still have to learn.

I had one experience with an old lady in New Jersey who wanted pancakes. I didn’t get a lot of orders for pancakes so I made them the wrong size and shape and I kind of tried to sneak them by her and she just looked at them and said “what is this?” and I picked them up, threw them against the wall and shouted “make your own goddamn pancakes!” That was my leading failure as a cook.

What would you say makes you most happy nowadays?
I think it’s hard to recognise when you’re happy. People sometimes seem afraid to be happy. There’s some joy in my day every day. I took particular joy in the faces of all the pundits who predicted that Hillary Clinton was dead in New Hampshire and watching them scurry. There was unanimous glee. Joy comes from a lot of angles. I saw my daughter in a play just before I left. I snuck up behind Dennis Hopper to scare him and he turned around and he had just seen his son playing Lennon in a play where he had an axe in the middle of his head.
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Craig Driver talks to Cristina Ricci about her new fantasy family flick Penelope

Penelope is a film based around the premise that we judge people on how they look.Why do you think we act in such a way?
I don’t know. Don’t they say it’s some kind of biological imperative kind of thing? I’ve heard it said that in looking for a partner for example you are looking for another immune system that will fill in the blanks in yours. There is some other biological theory I’ve heard somewhere. Also, you are supposed to be attracted to people who resemble your parents. That happens. Somebody finds a father figure or a mother figure.

How did you feel about how your character looked specifically?
Well, I think she does have a big nose. It is an abnormality and I think that it would be something anyone would definitely have to get past. So I don’t blame everyone in the film for their initial reaction, being a bit shocked or startled. I don’t think they have to run screaming, but I definitely think it’s proven with James McAvoy’s character Max that once he does talk to her and he does get to know her and they do click, they do respond to each other on an emotional level. But then when he sees her nose it is something he’s taken aback by. But he literally sees her and sees what she’s probably had to deal with for her whole life. There’s one particular scene, which is beautifully played by James because you get the feeling that what he’s thinking about is ’Oh God, she’s had to deal with this forever’, but he’s very aware of who she is in spite of it. But of course, we are all very superficial.

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