SALEM, Ore. – Louise Fletcher says she can’t bear to watch “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” because the Nurse Ratched character she won an Oscar for is so cruel.
“I find it too painful,” said Fletcher, 78. “It comes with age. I can’t watch movies that are inhumane.”
Additional Photos
Fletcher is returning this weekend to the institution where the movie was made in 1975, the Oregon State Hospital in Salem, the Statesman Journal reported.
The hospital, long under fire for inadequate programs and crumbling facilities, has been rebuilt in recent years. Fletcher is attending the opening of its Museum of Mental Health.
The movie is based on the novel by Oregon writer Ken Kesey. It centers on the struggle between the steely Nurse Ratched and Jack Nicholson’s scheming character, Randall McMurphy, who eventually gets a lobotomy for leading a rebellion among the prisoners on his ward.
“I was really shocked in those scenes where I was actually so cruel,” Fletcher said.
In 1975, Dr. Dean Brooks, then the superintendent, opened the campus to the cast and crew. Fletcher said she was in the city 11 weeks, filming six days a week. He and Fletcher have stayed in touch – they talk by phone each July 22, their common birthday.
Brooks recalls the actress as being nothing like the character: “I have found her to be angelic.”
Fletcher, whose parents are deaf, took time out from filming to visit students at the Oregon School for the Deaf, he said. He said he’s admired how she doted on her parents and cared for them as they aged, and how she dropped everything to spend time with a dying friend in London.
Fletcher said better known actresses turned down the role, and it wasn’t until she saw the film for the first time with an audience, in Chicago, that she was convinced she pulled it off. In a scene where McMurphy throws Nurse Ratched against the wall and chokes her in a fit of rage, she said, “they all stood up and cheered in the theater and were stomping their feet. That got to me. I realized, ‘Hey, I created a real villain here.'”
New Zealand says no to visit by Tyson
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – In a reversal, Mike Tyson has been denied entry to the country whose Maori people he says inspired his facial tattoo.
New Zealand authorities on Wednesday canceled an entry visa for the former heavyweight boxing champion and convicted rapist, days after the prime minister spoke out against his planned visit.
Tyson had earlier been granted an exemption to New Zealand immigration rules to speak at a November charitable event, “Day of the Champions.” Tyson’s 1992 rape conviction made him ineligible to enter the country.
Actor shows his versatility with shoe film
NEW YORK – Actor James Franco has taken another twist in his unconventional career – directing a short film for shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.
Four vignettes, which will debut on Weitzman’s Facebook page, follow model Petra Nemcova as she takes what the company describes as “a midnight fantasy stroll.”
The inspiration came from the 1988 underground club-scene movie “Mondo New York.”
Franco, who was nominated for an acting Oscar for “127 Hours” and hosted the awards ceremony, has also acted on “General Hospital” while studying for a doctorate at Yale and teaching at New York University.
The first installment went live Wednesday and the entire film will be available on Oct. 26.
– From news service reports
Copy the Story Link
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.