Why Smile 2's Paul Hudson Actor Ray Nicholson Looks So Familiar
This contains mild spoilers for "Smile 2."
In Parker Finn's new horror film "Smile 2," Naomi Scott plays Skye Riley, a pop star poised to launch a world tour and in the midst of stressful rehearsals and press events. A lot is riding on the tour, as Skye only recently left rehab after a bout of intense cocaine addiction and alcoholism. She is also still traumatized from a recent drugged-up car accident, one that left her with a pain in her back, a scar on her belly, and a dead boyfriend. During this whirlwind of pain, guilt, and public activity, Skye accumulates a parasitic demon, one that appears to her as people she knows ... and they're always smiling.
The "Smile" demon has a peculiar modus operandi. It lives inside its host, driving them crazy and feeding off their negativity and trauma. After about a week, the demon forces its host to kill themselves in front of a witness. The witness is so traumatized by seeing a suicide that the demon transfers to them, and so on.
During a rather mortifying scene in "Smile 2," Skye gets up on stage at a charity event to give an important but bland presentation about how music can inspire disadvantaged youth. Already stalked by a demon, and overwhelmed by the tour, Skye kind of breaks down, confessing that her life isn't hunky-dory and that she doesn't feel confident enough to be touring. She accidentally announces that her dead boyfriend, Paul, might be there.
And then ... Paul is there. She sees him smiling from the audience. He walks slowly toward her, his creepy grin unmoving. It is the demon. No one else can see him.
If Paul's creepy grin looks familiar, know that he was played by Ray Nicholson, the son of Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson.
Warning: mild spoilers for "Smile 2" follow.
Ray Nicholson's smile is so scary, Paramount put a distorted version of it on the poster for "Smile 2." It certainly calls to mind the scary grins his father affected in many of his own unhinged performances; Jack Nicholson, while possessing great range, often played extreme, intense, or threatening characters, carrying an intimidating level of confidence; recall his performance as Jack Torrance in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film "The Shining."
Ray Nicholson began his professional acting career when he appeared in the 2006 baseball comedy "The Benchwarmers" when he was 13. As an adult, he started his career with the film "The Outsider" in 2018, starring opposite Jared Leto. He had bit parts in both the sexual assault drama "Promising Young Woman," and the 1970s nostalgia trip "Licorice Pizza." He starred in all ten episodes of the 2021 Prime Video series "Panic" and has turned up in Neil LaBute's "Out of the Blue," and the comedy "I Love You Forever." He seems to be just starting out, but also has an eye for working with established directors. With his face on the "Smile 2" poster, one can say that it's his most visible role to date, despite only having a few scenes.
Nicholson's stand-out scene is a flashback to when his character, Paul, was still alive and having an in-car argument with Skye. The pair snort cocaine and scream about how much they hate each other. There's not a lot of richness to the dialogue in the scene, but Nicholson is sweaty and intense, conveying a palpable menace.
Nicholson will soon appear in the thriller "Novocaine" opposite Jack Quaid. "Novocaine" will tell the story of a mild-mannered banker who cannot feel physical pain, as he aims to rescue his beloved (Amber Midthunder) from kidnappers. Nicholson is third-billed.
