Slater: Nicholson's just like Cuckoo character

Christian Slater used Jack Nicholson as inspiration for his role in a new stage version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest - because the acting legend has lived his life like Randle Patrick McMurphy.

Nicholson played mental patient McMurphy in the 1975 movie - and Slater insists the 67-year-old has much in common with one of his most famous characters.

Slater - whose production opens on London's West End tomorrow - tells Time Out magazine: "As I read the play I found myself thinking: 'My God, there's so much of what Jack Nicholson is today in this character.

It's almost like he's been playing McMurphy his whole life."