Son of Jennifer, daughter of Jack Nicholson and her retired husband, Mark Norfleet, Duke is named after Hawaiian surfer Duke Kahanamoku. While running the family’s show business, Duke originally planned to become a director, telling The Hollywood Reporter:
“I did a short film [in high school] called The Happy Fisherman, but I haven’t really shown it to anyone.”
The reason he found his way to acting was through the offspring of another famous Hollywood – his friend Jack Kilmer, son of Val Kilmer, who introduced him to a music video director whom he filmed in some videos. This led to Duke being named manager and the rest, as they say, is history.
But don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of roosters before. With his first role as Creepy in the well-reviewed 2019 horror film Us Jordan Peele, the 23-year-old launched his acting career. Coincidentally Bell was unaware of Duke’s famous family ties and while filming us he asked, ‘Have you seen The Shining? You’re my Lloyd’, referencing the ghost bartender in the horror film popular. If only he knew so much back then!
Duke is also set to star alongside Armie Hammer and Gary Oldman in Nicholas Jarecki’s upcoming Dreamland film. Well, if you watch a scene or two from any of these films, you’ll understand why we can’t compare Duke and his grandfather Jack.
Not only does Duke share his grandfather’s good looks, but he also possesses a bit of the mystical – if not grotesque – charm that Nicholson brings to his many roles.
The striking resemblance may have something to do with Duke’s raised eyebrows and shaggy, jet-black hair. Additionally, Duke’s deep piercing eyes have a great personality and also resemble his grandfather’s gorgeous gaze, which he used to full effect throughout his career.
Of course, there’s also a clear parallel that Nicholson is following in his 84-year-old grandfather’s footsteps as a Hollywood actor.
In his very first interview, The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Duke in 2019 to talk about his grandfather, his new acting career and how he appeared on the cover of Lana Del Rey’s latest album. When asked why he wanted to be an actor, Duke replied, “It wasn’t a big, ‘I want to be an actor’ kind of moment,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. It was just a gradual thing. ”
Somewhat surprisingly, Duke also said he’s found they don’t talk much about acting, but instead relate to watching sports.
But perhaps Duke’s reluctance and “normal” relationship with his super-famous grandfather says a lot about the 23-year-old’s desire to move on. Like, say, his spontaneous decision to go out on a boat with Lana Del Rey to take pictures.
“Lana is a friend of mine and she called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to do the album cover tomorrow. Do you want to be on it? And, as The Hollywood Reporter explained, Duke didn’t really think about it, he said yes – and now he’s on the cover of an album that has sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
“I just went with her,” he told the newspaper. “I don’t try to analyze things too much.”
While Duke certainly evokes a sense of Jack Nicholson mystery and was in one of the major motion pictures, only time will tell if Duke continues to follow in his grandfather’s legendary footsteps or charts his own path to greatness. From what we’ve seen so far, it looks like Duke has unlimited talent and a great career ahead of him, but his close relationship with Hollywood royalty certainly wouldn’t hurt.
