Ray Nicholson was dead set against acting, but 'I am my dad's kid'

Major movie premieres, red carpet walks, chats with talk-show hosts about sitting courtside at Lakers’ games. This was the life of Jack Nicholson back in the day, and now the existence of son Ray Nicholson.

The on-the-rise actor has two new movies in theaters this weekend: action comedy “Novocaine” and the 1990s-set dark comedy “Borderline.” By the tail end of a promotional push for both, “I was fully in the fourth dimension,” says the younger Nicholson, 33.

Still, it’s a job he loves: Acting "is a love language between me and my dad, for sure, and that's why I do it.” And like his old man, Nicholson has a penchant for characters who lean unhinged and dangerous.

Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox.

He’s a sociopathic bank robber opposite Jack Quaid’s hero-who-can’t-feel-pain in “Novocaine,” and toes a fine line between protagonist and antagonist in “Borderline” as an escaped mental patient who stalks a pop star (Samara Weaving). And he manages to make both ne'er-do-wells magnetically watchable.

“I could care less whether people think I'm a great actor or not. I want to be engaging and entertaining,” Nicholson says. “Ultimately, it's a service position. You want people to enjoy what you're doing.”

Here’s what new fans need to know about the next Nicholson making waves in Hollywood.

Ray Nicholson is ‘human Red Bull’ in 'Novocaine,' channels Tom Cruise in ‘Borderline’

Jack Quaid says he was amazed by Nicholson’s ability to be his “very sweet” self and then “turn his psycho on at the drop of a hat,” adding that his co-star has as an electrifying side that’s “almost like human Red Bull.” It was important for Nicholson to be a positive force on set. “For me, my biggest obstacle is always myself,” Nicholson says. "But once I break through, I have unlimited energy.”

He made use of that enthusiasm making “Borderline,” especially in a scene where his unstable character runs wild through an empty mansion, eating snacks while dancing in his underwear a la Tom Cruise in “Risky Business." “I ate about eight Hot Pockets that day, of varying warmth.”

Nicholson came up with a lot of shenanigans on the spot with writer/director Jimmy Warden (“Cocaine Bear”). “What would this person do?” the actor says. “Like, what can you do in the bathtub? I could shave my legs? Perfect! That creatively was the most fun I've ever had.”

But it took Ray Nicholson a while to come around to the family business

Growing up the son of a Hollywood legend and actress/model Rebecca Broussard, acting was “the absolute last thing that I wanted to do,” Nicholson allows. His first role was as a young catcher trash-talking David Spade in the 2006 baseball comedy “The Benchwarmers,” and back then “I was a really insecure kid: overweight, got picked on, not cool in school. Just this dorky kid that wanted to hide.

“Then it just dawned on me like, ‘What the hell are you doing? You've always wanted to (act), but you're just too scared or you don't feel worthy.’ Childhood resentment of not having the typical family and just kind of shaking that out,” Nicholson says. He graduated from film school and did Sandy Meisner classes but still had personal issues to work through: “The first exercise they teach you is a 'knocking at the door' exercise. I put so much pressure on myself, it was like, ’Is that knock good enough for four Oscars?’”

Over time, he righted himself and realized “I am my dad's kid and I'm super-happy about it.”

Jack Nicholson’s son broke through in an a moment that pays homage to his dad

Ray Nicholson had small roles in “Promising Young Woman” and “Licorice Pizza” and played a main character on Amazon's “Panic.” His big breakthrough came last year in the horror sequel “Smile 2,” wearing a similarly disturbing and sinister grin to Jack Nicholson’s in “The Shining.”

“Dude, that was the coolest thing ever,” Ray Nicholson says. “I’ve done as much as I could to fly under the radar as I could. But when I saw the billboards, I was like, ‘Oh, duh! I can do this and be my dad's kid. I don't have to hide.”

Ray Nicholson acknowledges that his dad Jack is ‘my favorite actor’

Nicholson loves talking about his mom. While he got his cinematic looks from dad, he got his “nice teeth, good manners, blue eyes and curly hair” from Broussard, as well as a grounded nature. “My dad is this larger-than-life person, and my mom's someone that came from a trailer park in Henderson, Kentucky. She taught me how to be a human and how to have a heart.”

When it comes to inspiration, though, it’s all about Jack. “He’s my favorite actor,” Nicholson says. “He is my north star. If I didn't want to be compared to my dad, I would've been a veterinarian.”

The elder Nicholson, 87, hasn’t been in a movie in 15 years. Could Ray Nicholson get him to come out of retirement and share the screen with his son?

“I think my dad is really happy with his body of work. He has done enough,” Nicholson says. “He has provided me and my sister with an amazing life. To continue to make him proud is all I want and hopefully I have kids and they look at me the way that I look at my dad.”

He pauses before flashing that multigenerational grin. ”But maybe.”