Ray Nicholson Reveals Why It Took Him So Long to Embrace Being an Actor Like His Dad Jack (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ray Nicholson attends the U.S. Premiere of Paramount’s “SMILE 2” at Paramount Theatre on October 14, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.Photo:Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Ray Nicholsongrew up the son of actorJack Nicholsonand actress Rebecca Broussard, but for a long time he had no interest in getting into show business.

“I wanted to be an astronaut, and then maybe a sports agent,” Nicholson, 33, tells PEOPLE of his childhood dreams. Still, he couldn’t deny acting was in his blood.

“I later realized that, yeah, deep down I’d always wanted to do this,” continues theSmile 2actor.

“I think things happen when they do for a reason,” he says. “If I’d had fame when I was younger, who knows — I could be dead. I feel so much for the people who had this at a young age, dealing with pictures of them coming out of bars. It’s just so hard.”

Ray Nicholson as Simon in Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures

The fact that his dad is an Oscar winner wasn’t lost on him, of course. While it didn’t hinder his own career, he recalls taking acting classes and on his first day thinking, “Was that good enough for seven Oscars?”

“There was this crippling pressure I put on myself,” he says.

When he’s not acting, Nicholson says he’s happy being a homebody with his girlfriend Sara Sampaio and their dog, kicking back in Los Angeles.

“I’m not as well-traveled as you might think!” he says with a laugh, noting that he generally doesn’t stray too far from L.A. unless his girlfriend makes him go on vacation — though he loves doing yoga and is an avid fly-fisherman. “Put me on a river and I’m happy.”

Sara Sampaio, Ray Nicholson arrives at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

His sister Lorraine is a writer, and he says he could see himself getting into screenwriting.

“I think that I have a unique perspective, and I’ve learned to embrace that rather than try to hide it, so I’ve been trying to flirt with writing a little bit,” he says. “As for directing some day, there’s a lot that I need to learn. I would love to do it but I don’t know if I’d want to do it alone. But yeah, I mean, why limit yourself?”

Novocaineis in theaters now.

source: people.com