Ray Nicholson Levels Up With ‘The Mosquito Bowl’: “I’m Always Battling for Legitimacy”

Ray Nicholson’s acting career has blossomed at a steady clip since starting out in his mid-20s, but when it came to The Mosquito Bowl, the 34-year-old put himself out there like never before. After auditioning for the war-sports hybrid period drama helmed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Lone Survivor), Nicholson wrote the director a letter, expressing his passion for the project. This was a first for him. “You only do it when you feel it,” he says.

We’re speaking over Zoom on the afternoon following the world premiere of The Mosquito Bowl, hosted by the AFI Fest at the Chinese Theater — a hallowed Hollywood space that Nicholson was intimately familiar with as a kid in Los Angeles, and where his father, the Oscar-winning icon Jack Nicholson, cemented his hand- and footprints way back in 1974.

That’s not the only reason the screening proved overwhelming for the younger Nicholson, who shared in the evening with his mom, actress Rebecca Broussard. Based on Buzz Bissinger’s nonfiction book of the same name, The Mosquito Bowl was produced at a level of scale and pedigree that signals the beginning of a new chapter. Previously best known for mercurial supporting turns in projects ranging from Smile 2 to Novocaine, here Nicholson helps anchor a starry fall release for Netflix.

Starring opposite fellow surging talents in Tom Francis (Sunset Boulevard), Bill Skarsgård (Nosferatu) and Nicholas Galitzine (Masters of War), Nicholson holds his own with a moving, grounded turn as Tony Butkovich, a football player who enlists in the Marines during WWII. Brutal battle sequences surround the titular football game played in Guadalcanal — a respite before the mass tragedies of the Battle of Okinawa. The project tested Nicholson mentally and physically. “It changed my life,” he says — particularly when it comes to how he views himself, carving out his own space in an industry that he was surrounded by growing up, and that’s always loomed so large.

“My dad always says that tension is talent — and I’ve got a lot of tension,” Nicholson says with a laugh. “But I can work through it. That’s the gift.”

How did The Mosquito Bowl come your way?

I had a general meeting at Netflix and it was something that I heard about that they were doing. I immediately targeted it as the thing I wanted to do. I told my team that, while I’m still young and semi-attractive, I’d like to do a war film or a sports film — while my body still can move and my knees don’t hurt and things like that. Very early on, it was just whispers. And then I finally got the script and I absolutely fell in love with it.

We went through the auditioning process, where we auditioned for all four characters. And afterwards I wrote Pete a letter and pledged my heart and soul. I told him how much his films over the years have meant to me. I was doing this while the L.A. fires were happening. I was watching my childhood burn down at the same time, with my mother and there, with all this feeling and emotion and weird memories.

Had you done that before — written a letter for a role?

No, I hadn’t. This was something that I felt compelled by. I felt that I could uniquely be of service to this movie. I grew up playing football. I love the game. There’s this aspect of being American and being proud to be an American and the sacrifices that we make to uphold ideals that I really, really believe in. I knew that it was going to be hard. I knew that it was going to be trying, and that’s what I signed up for. I just knew that I was never going to complain. I was just going to give it 100 percent.

The Mosquito Bowl is coming out in a moment where this country has a very complicated relationship to war. What do you make of its themes in that context?

There’s this fine line that we tried to toe in this movie, and I hope that we did: It’s deeply anti-war and deeply patriotic at the same time. That was something that was really important to me. The quote at the beginning really sets it off, which is: “Old men declare more war so the young that have to pay the price,” that have to suffer the losses. You see the statistics, that 75 million people died in World War II…but when you get to know one person, you realize just how great that loss is. It’s completely unfathomable.

The bonds between the four of you are so crucial to this movie, and you’re all at a certain rising point in your careers. What was it like stepping into this space together?

It was a dream come true. The first person I met was Tom on the cast. I went and saw him in Sunset Boulevard; he was amazing. I’m totally starstruck by this guy. I’m like, “Holy shit, this guy is amazing.” We became instant friends, and we just stressed that the relationship between [Dave] Schreiner and Butkovich is really almost the biggest arc in the movie. It’s the biggest shift throughout the whole thing. It’s where the heart is, and we just knew that our relationship was going to be really, really important. We’re on a similar trajectory in our career right now, earlier on, so it was really important to have each other.

Then we met Bill who taught me so much and was so open-armed, and there’s this thing of brotherhood that’s caked in. Bill never had to hang out with us, and he was like, “We’re hanging out all the time.” Us three became extremely close, and we really fed off of each other. And Nick was an amazing lead. His role was to be a lens of everything that was happening.

This being your biggest film role to date, how did you grow as an actor on this movie?

You work with different directors, you love different jobs, you get jobs for different reasons — and I think Pete genuinely believed in me. We had chats before with him being like, “This is going to be you.” He does not bullshit you, and that’s a great thing in a leader. He will tell you when you’re not doing well, he will tell you when you are not showing up the way that you should, and we definitely had those conversations too, but he really believed in me. And [executive producer] Ezra Emanuel championed me to get me in this role too. That’s my brother. I’ll thank him forever for that.

I learned so much from Bill — I could get on my knees, thanking him for how much he’s taught me, truly like an older brother, and for how much Tom taught me too. This changed my life. I mean, I cried last night [at the premiere]. My mom was there. It was the first time that I saw the movie, and especially just being there with Tom to share that moment together, and being able to share the moment with Bill — having friends that are going through what you’re going through and friends that have been through what you’ve been through. Having both of those people to rely on is so invaluable.

I wanted to deliver how I knew that I could. I hope that this is a perspective shift for me. I hope that this is something that’s like, “He’s got it, he’s got something.” I got so much better as an artist because of this experience — not just because of the confidence, but how to research, and how to show up, and how to just be and trust that that’s enough. That I don’t have to be “crazy” all the time or whatever (Laughs.) I don’t have to force anything.

Can you say a bit more about that “perspective shift”? Where did you feel you were in the industry before getting cast here?

There’s always this inside out thing. The perspective of myself has changed. I’m always battling for legitimacy. Every actor is like, “Oh my God, this is when they discover that I’m a fraud,” or “Do I deserve this?” or whatever. But for me, it’s just battling for legitimacy and wanting to prove my worth and wanting to put my work first. It’s having confidence in myself and being like, “I can stand here as me, Ray Nicholson, and there’s nothing that I have to be ashamed of or hide from or wonder.” Those things are going to be, and that’s okay. I can approach everything with love. I can be nervous about this interview. I can be nervous about whatever’s going on. (Laughs.) But I love the work, I love this job.

It sounds like something that just also happens through time, right? The more work you do, the more people like Pete say, “I see you in a part like this.”

Totally. It just takes one person, it just takes one role, and then it takes you being prepared. I love Pete so much, man. I love him as a filmmaker. I love him as a man. He’s very, very special to me, and I’m happy that however this is starting or whatever this means for me, that it came from him, of all people.

I’ve interviewed Pete about some of his past projects, and I know he likes to get out into the elements alongside his actors before shooting starts. It can get pretty intense. What was that part of it like?

Most of us came in with, “This is what we signed up for, and this is such a privilege, and this is fun.” Honestly, getting dragged out on a jet ski in marine clothing and thrown into waves and getting crushed by waves was extremely fun. I caught on fire. I blew a hole in my knee — in the last sequence of the movie, I fell and hit a rock, and it put a divot in my knee, and I tried to go to the sergeant major and get it covered with duct tape. The next day, I had to get a small operation on my knee to clean out my knee and sew it back up. Then the next day I was at work and Tom and I filmed that scene together. This is what we signed up for.

Pete makes this thing of controlled chaos. It’s not precious. There’s no, “Okay, now this coverage is on you, so start acting.” You’re just fully immersed in the thing. War is just happening to you, and you’re reacting to the world that’s built around you, and you just hope that if you’ve done your work, all you need to do is show up and everyone else will end up doing your job for you.

What was premiere night like?

It was really special. My mom was at the premiere and she was crying the whole time, which was nice. I had a really special moment with my sister [earlier], she went to go see it at the Academy screening and she didn’t know I was doing a Q&A — she came up and rushed the stage and was bawling. At the end of the day, I just want to make my family proud. Seeing my mom and my sister feel that way, that’s it.

I grew up here. I grew up going to the Chinese and looking at Humphrey Bogart’s hands and feet — and looking at my dad’s hands and feet, and seeing how they compare or whatever. (Laughs.) To have a movie open at the Chinese, it’s a dream come true. It’s really, really crazy to hear people laugh and smile; no matter what my dad is doing, even if he’s the bad guy, I’m just smiling the whole time looking up, and I hope to have that effect on people. I just want to make people smile and make their lives a little bit better.

What do you hope for what’s next, then? Any dream directors?

I have tons of dream directors on my list. I’m just excited. I’m really excited. I hope the perspective shift is that people are like, “I want to work with him.” That’s a good shift for me. Hopefully this will do something in that way. I love movies. I love this industry. I love everything about it. I want movies to live forever, and I want to be a small part of that. I’m looking forward to what the next chapter is, whatever it is. The next job is the next dream.

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The Mosquito Bowl hits select theaters this Friday, and streams on Netflix starting Nov. 25.