Wanting One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to be incredibly realistic, director Forman had his actors, who included Christopher Lloyd and Danny DeVito, in unscripted group therapy sessions.
Here he would capture his cast both in and out of character, without telling them exactly when the cameras were rolling.
Initially refusing to show them the dailies and how their performances were going began to irritate Nicholson and the other actors.
So Douglas told the director that he must show them something to put everyone at ease, which he did. However, more problems would arise when Nicholson and Forman had severe creatives differences.
