Jack Nicholson gave his fellow actors everything they needed to excel. Isn't that a fitting definition of leadership?
Kevin Bacon recently told Bill Simmons' Ringer podcast that Nicholson volunteered to give repeated takes of his famous "You can't handle the truth" scene in "A Few Good Men" (1992) to give each actor something fresh and vivid in which to react. He was selfless in remaining on set after he filmed the primary take with Tom Cruise in order to let Kevin Pollack, Demi Moore, and Bacon have more direct, engaging interactions. Other less professional, high-maintenance actors with more fragile egos and selfish indifference would have let doubles do the off-camera talking and left the set.
Bacon praised Meryl Streep's professionalism, as well. She knew the high altitude in which she was soaring among the world's top actresses, even back in 1994 when filming "The River Wild" with Bacon. Nonetheless, Bacon said, she remained available to every member of the cast and crew. She worked just as hard as everyone else and expected no special favors because of her stardom.
Nicholson and Streep know the importance of getting the final product right. That means subduing their own egos for the greater good and helping everyone else do their very best work. It may have contributed to the fact that they are among just five actors to win three Academy Awards. And it's precisely why Kevin Bacon serves as a role model on the set and pays it forward by making himself available to younger actors.
We too often find that a world-class jerk in a leadership position had a world-class jerk for a boss or senior colleague. Unfortunately, the role-modeling works the other way around, too.
We too often find that a world-class jerk in a leadership position had a world-class jerk for a boss or senior colleague. Unfortunately, the role-modeling works the other way around, too.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.