Jack Nicholson: He's a big pussy cat

Hollywood star Jack Nicholson says he is a "real sweetie," despite a reputation as a hellraiser and his long career playing a succession of disturbed movie characters.

"The biggest misconception about me is that I'm angry and/or violent," Nicholson, 63, told Britain's Daily Express. "In reality I'm a real pussy of a guy, a real sweetie."

Nicholson, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of an obsessive homophobic writer in As Good As It Gets, is set for a return to the silver screen in the thriller The Pledge, in which he plays a small-town policeman on the verge of retirement who pledges to find the killer of a little girl.

The movie also features an impressive supporting cast, including Mickey Rourke and British actors Helen Mirren and Vanessa Redgrave.

"Every day I'd come in and there was another of these great actors to work with," he said.

The star of such memorable movies as Terms of Endearment, The Shining and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest said he had started to take life easier, becoming more picky about movie projects.

"This is the third time I have taken a year off, which means I have refused to read any scripts or talk about movies.

"I kind of refilled the tub. I know it's a shock to some actors but there is life outside the movies. I socialised, I travelled a bit. I read for pleasure. I lived my life."

Despite slowing down, the three-times Oscar-winner, who shot to fame alongside Dennis Hopper in the low-budget movie classic Easy Rider, said he had no plans to retire.

"I talked to Clint [Eastwood] a couple of years ago about us both retiring. Then I ran into him this month and he said, 'I see neither of us has retired yet.' We just seem to keep ploughing on."

- NZPA