Jack Nicholson

 

Jack Nicholson informed the crew of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest" on day one that he wouldn’t shoot on Sundays. Not for emergencies. Not for reshoots. Not even for awards-season pressure. Director Miloš Forman didn’t argue. Nicholson’s boundary stood untouched through the entire 1975 shoot, even when the schedule tightened around crucial scenes in the Oregon State Hospital where the film was shot. For Nicholson, that one day off each week wasn’t about rest. It was about mental preservation.

“I need one day where I don’t have to be anyone else but me,” he said during a 1976 roundtable with "Rolling Stone." The role of R.P. McMurphy demanded more than just performance. It required emotional rawness, defiance, and a kind of personal unraveling. Nicholson understood that to give that much intensity Monday through Saturday, he had to have one day to reclaim himself. That line, drawn firmly in the middle of a million dollar production, gave him space to sustain one of the most memorable roles in film history.

The environment on set reflected this tone. While Forman and producers pushed forward through occasional delays and long hours, Sunday became sacred. Nicholson used the day for silence, reading, motorcycle rides around the Oregon countryside, or disappearing into small diners where nobody asked for autographs. Crew members later recalled that his energy on Mondays felt noticeably sharper, as though that 24-hour reset unlocked a deeper gear in him.

Michael Douglas, one of the film’s producers, said in a 1997 interview with "The Hollywood Reporter," “Jack wasn’t difficult. He was precise. He knew what his limits were. And you couldn’t argue with the results. The guy delivered electric performances five days straight, and that extra day made a difference you could feel on set.”

Louise Fletcher, who played Nurse Ratched, also remembered those Sundays. She once told "Vanity Fair" that Nicholson’s dedication to his boundaries inspired others to reevaluate their own. “It was the first time I’d seen an actor defend his space like that without apology. I admired it. We all admired it.”

The crew, mostly young and pushing through grueling hours, eventually began adjusting to Jack’s rhythm. They noticed how Monday shoots would often deliver gold, scenes that felt alive, unpredictable, and haunting. One of the film’s most powerful moments, when McMurphy takes the patients on a fishing trip, was filmed on a Monday morning. Nicholson had returned after a quiet Sunday alone in Portland, and cast members said his presence felt different. There was a brightness, a looseness, that helped lift the entire ensemble.

Nicholson wasn’t preaching or making a public statement. He never criticized others who didn’t share the same approach. He simply understood himself, and what his craft required from him. Being McMurphy took emotional labor, and rather than drain himself dry, he chose intentional recovery. That personal commitment mirrored the very themes of the film, resisting control, holding onto identity, and protecting one’s mind at all costs.

His relationship with Miloš Forman remained strong, in part because the director understood that working with Nicholson meant respecting the balance between discipline and freedom. Forman later said in "Film Comment" magazine, “Jack never came late. He was prepared. But he needed to feel like a human being too, not just a character in a story. That’s what gave McMurphy such fire.”

Years later, when Nicholson was asked whether he’d ever regretted the Sunday rule, he laughed. “Never. That was the smartest decision I made that year,” he said. “It gave me my sanity. And McMurphy needed that more than anything.”

What looked like stubbornness to some was, in reality, an artist protecting his emotional truth. One day of silence made six days of chaos unforgettable.