Sir Michael Caine says Jack Nicholson taught him the value of refusing to quit.
The veteran movie star actually retired from acting in the 90s, but Jack convinced him to change his mind after he was offered a role in the drama film ‘Blood and Wine’.
Michael recalled: "I got a script from a producer and he said, ‘You play the father, not the lover,’ and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m retired, it’s over, forget it.’
"I emigrated to Miami for the winter, and Jack was living there and we became friends. I decided I wasn’t going to work again and then Jack said, ‘I’ve got a movie called ‘Blood and Wine’, and there’s a very good part for you in it,’ and he talked me into doing it. The lesson was: Never give up."
Michael, 85, initially over-indulged after finding success in the movie business, buying a Rolls-Royce even though he couldn’t drive at the time.
But as his career has progressed, the Oscar-winning star has become increasingly keen to keep a low profile – which is why he now drives "gray cars".
Asked about his most extravagant purchases, Michael told Rolling Stone magazine: "In the 60s, after I’d just made ‘Alfie’, ‘The Ipcress File’ and ‘Zulu’, I had enough money to buy a Rolls-Royce, so I went out and bought one. I couldn’t drive, so I had to rent a chauffeur. Very expensive, and I never did anything that stupid again. I only kept it for a couple years, then sold it.
"Once you become famous you don’t want a Rolls-Royce because everybody looks to see who’s inside it. I’ve now got gray cars that everyone drives. No one ever looks in my car."
Sir Michael Caine: Jack Nicholson taught me not to quit
