Monday, November 17, 1997
Actress explores the unexpected
FILM:
‘Nick and Jane’ discovers new facets
of identity in romanceBy Aimee Phan
Daily Bruin Staff
After an identity crisis and a boring summer, Dana
Wheeler-Nicholson made a decision  to become an actress. It
is an unlikely choice, seeing how most actresses in Hollywood
struggle to make a name for themselves.
Star of the new independent film "Nick and Jane,"
Wheeler-Nicholson has been acting in film, television and theater
for over ten years. She has gotten used to the difficult life she’s
chosen, acknowledging the lack of great commercial glory or
fortune. She’s grown accustomed to the ups and downs of Hollywood
and has managed her life accordingly.
"Clearly I haven’t picked a mainstream sort of career,"
Wheeler-Nicholson acknowledges. "I’ll have a few good years where
(acting) is all I do, but then six months go by, and I’ve gotta do
something else and supplement (it). There are maybe 10 people who
can really live well in this career and everybody else has to
supplement it when they need to."
Wheeler-Nicholson’s career has allowed her to co-star with
several popular leading men. She has acted opposite Chevy Chase in
"Fletch," Kurt Russell in "Tombstone" and Jerry Seinfeld on his
eponymous hit sitcom.
"I played a girlfriend he has (and) he’s concerned about eating
nuts that she’s already had in her mouth and using her toothbrush,"
Wheeler-Nicholson explains. "And the argument was if he’s kissed
her, then why does it matter if he’s using her toothbrush. But for
some reason, it grosses him out."
In her "Nick and Jane," Wheeler-Nicholson plays Jane, an uptight
successful businesswoman whose ideal yuppie life is thrown for a
loop when she meets Nick (James McCaffrey), a scruffy taxi
driver/struggling artist.
Opposites attract and romantic comedy ensues. Wheeler-Nicholson
especially enjoyed filming this movie because of the cast and
crew’s devotion to the project.
"Everybody’s there for real reasons which are to make something
really happen," Wheeler-Nicholson says. "We worked very hard to
make something where we really had nothing but people’s interests
and intentions. Rich (Mauro, the director) was incredible. His
integrity and tenacity has been inspirational in different
ways."
Wheeler-Nicholson also enjoyed playing Jane because of the
emotional journey the character goes through after meeting and
falling in love with her unlikely counterpart.
"I think we’re seeing more and more women who choose
professional lives. And within these choices, they’ve sort of
painted a picture of themselves of who they are," Wheeler-Nicholson
says. "Jane thinks she knows who she is, but through falling in
love with Nick, she realizes she’s someone quite different."
Wheeler-Nicholson sympathized with her character’s momentary
identity crisis, believing it is something that everyone goes
through in their lives.
"We all have times when we think we know ourselves better than
we actually do," Wheeler-Nicholson continues. "We have some
projection of who we are rather than who we actually are."
While in college, Wheeler-Nicholson was confused about her
identity, changing abruptly from a career in painting to one in
acting.
"It was a whim," Wheeler-Nicholson admits. "I decided that
summer out of sheer boredom. I was probably breaking up with my
boyfriend or something, and I took an acting class. I started
acting that summer. I’d always been interested in the theater since
my father had raised me on Hollywood movies."
The career that followed included a steady amount of acting in
both film and television. She remembers her film role as Mattie
Earp, the haunted wife of Wyatt Earp in the Kurt Russell-Val Kilmer
western, "Tombstone."
Wheeler-Nicholson says all the elements of that film combined
help make Mattie her favorite role  "The time period, the
affliction she had of the heart and body." "Playing somebody with a
broken heart was very appealing," Wheeler-Nicholson says.
And after working in the business for over a decade,
Wheeler-Nicholson still has no set career plan, explaining that
acting is too unpredictable and non-mainstream to try to control
it.
"I have to honestly say that I had absolutely no idea what was
going to happen. So therefore I didn’t have a projected path and I
still don’t," Wheeler-Nicholson says. "This isn’t the kind of
career you can have a plan with, unless you’re a good business
person, which I’m not. I’ve got a one-day-at-a-time attitude about
it."
But that doesn’t mean Hollywood gets any easier or any less
frustrating.
"I think I’m basically tortured (by) it every day,"
Wheeler-Nicholson says. "I think it’s part of what drives me, the
unsureness of it all. It’s a part of a life you choose when you
don’t choose anything mainstream. Never knowing, nothing’s ever
sure."
FILM: "Nick and Jane" is now playing in theaters.
CFP Distribution
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson and James McCaffrey in "Nick and
Jane."