Jack Nicholson Reportedly Only Ate This Kind Of Sandwich While Filming The Shining

Stanley Kubrick was known for unorthodox directing methods, and one persistent Hollywood rumor claims he used cheese sandwiches to aggravate Jack Nicholson on the set of "The Shining." In much-discussed lore, Kubrick allegedly controlled what was served during filming. Nicholson was said to have despised cheese sandwiches, and Kubrick intentionally made shure he was fed cheese sandwiches continuously throughout the entire two weeks of production. A cheese sandwich may sound innocuous enough, but when you're fed a dish repeatedly, particularly one you hate, it is bound to get under your skin. 

This movie-making sandwich story has swirled for years, with speculation whether it was rubbery, tasteless store-bought American cheese or the choice of sandwich bread that contributed to the actor's disgruntled torment. Yet this cheese-centric conversation could simply be a myth. Director Lee Unkrich spent 12 years researching "The Shining" and authored the multi-volume collection, "Stanley Kubrick's The Shining," which details hundreds of hours of interviews and exclusive information surrounding the film's production. In all of his research, Unkrich found nothing that supported this supposed sandwich strategy. 

As tantalizing questionable Hollywood rumors might be, "The Shining" rumors involving Jack Nicholson and Stanley Kubrick, as well as the rest of the cast, may have been taken too far. "I've been researching this movie so long that I've seen these incorrect or exaggerated stories appear, and then I've watched them become more and more exaggerated over the years," Lee Unkrich told IndieWire. "Like Stanley Kubrick found out that Jack Nicholson didn't like cheese sandwiches, and so he made him eat cheese sandwiches through the entire shoot to keep him in a bad mood. Ridiculous."

As far as Jack Nicholson's actual dietary proclivities, he's been reported to enjoy orange juice, coffee with cream and sugar, and diet chocolate pudding for breakfast. Nicholson has also worked with Brooklyn-born chef Tommy Baratta, who even wrote a cookbook titled "Cooking For Jack" that features health-minded recipes like frittatas, rice pudding, and French toast. Given his collaboration with Baratta and his own preferences for fresh breakfasts, Nicholson's actual diet seems far removed from any cheese sandwich torture devices of movie legend.