Ray Nicholson revealed in a new conversation with his sister Lorraine that he and their father, Jack Nicholson, bond most over their shared love of sports — particularly the Los Angeles Lakers
Jack shares Ray and Lorraine with his former partner Rebecca Broussard. The Oscar winner is also a father to four other children
Ray is currently promoting his new movie The Mosquito Bowl, which is in theaters now and arrives on Netflix Nov. 25
Ray Nicholson may be following in the acting footsteps of his famous father, Jack Nicholson, but the two share another passion: basketball.
Ray, 34, revealed in a conversation with his sister Lorraine Nicholson for Interview magazine, published Thursday, Nov. 12, that he and his three-time Academy Award-winning father, 89, bond over their love of sports — particularly the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers — more than just about anything else.
"I love sports so much. It's also the language of love that me and dad share. We can't talk about a lot, but we can talk about the f---ing Lakers until kingdom come," Ray told Lorraine, 36. The siblings are two of Jack's six children, whom he shares with actress Rebecca Broussard, his former partner in the late 1980s and early '90s.
The subject of sports came up as Ray, who is currently promoting his new movie The Mosquito Bowl, recalled how he decided to pursue acting in the first place. As he recently told PEOPLE, a staph infection that developed into MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) after his final high school football game landed him in the hospital and ultimately changed the course of his life.
"It was this voice-of-god moment that was like, 'You don't want to do this. You want to be an actor.' I was really scared to tell dad," Ray said in Interview magazine. "But I went to USC and learned to love everything about filmmaking. My education really taught me that dad isn't god. He's not the only thing in this film industry. He's a beautiful part of it, but a very small part.
Yes, of course, making dad proud is high on my list, but this is really a way of finding who I am. And I feel that I'm on the right path to that."
Jack Nicholson and Ray Nicholson on April 6, 2016Credit: Noel Vasquez/GC Images
Jack, who retired from acting following his 2010 movies I'm Still Here and How Do You Know, was once a fixture in courtside seats at Lakers games in Los Angeles, where Ray has been photographed alongside his father on multiple occasions over the years.
Ray made his onscreen debut in the 2006 sports comedy The Benchwarmers, though he didn't begin pursuing acting in earnest until 2018's The Outsider. His breakout came in 2024 with movies including Smile 2, which made memorable use of his eerie resemblance to his father — and Jack's iconic performance in the horror classic The Shining.
At The Mosquito Bowl's premiere in Hollywood, Calif., on Oct. 22, Ray told PEOPLE that he initially struggled with comparing himself to Jack's "three-Oscar-winning, five-decade career" when he began taking acting classes.
"Just to be able to take it breath by breath and to be able to do it and feel that I'm proud of my process and I'm proud of my work is really important," he added of the confidence he's gained in his own career.
Ray Nicholson and Jack Nicholson on Aug. 15, 2015Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty for The Apollo
In The Mosquito Bowl, Ray portrays real-life 1940s college football star Tony Butkovich, a standout running back at Purdue University who went on to serve as a U.S. Marine during World War II. The movie follows a group of Marines fighting in the war's Pacific Theater, several of whom traded promising college football careers for military service.
Ray's sister Lorraine, who interviewed him for Interview magazine, is also an actress and filmmaker. She last appeared onscreen in the 2016 movies Room 105 and Hacker, and is now preparing to make her feature directorial debut with Playmates, an upcoming movie starring Lily-Rose Depp, Bill Pullman and Jessica Biel.
The Mosquito Bowl is in theaters now and begins streaming on Netflix Nov. 25.
