Tim Burton Says He and Jack Nicholson Had ‘Caveman Style Communication’ While Working on BATMAN

I remember the first time I saw it Tim Burton’S Batman on the big screen. I was 11, it was at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd, and I was completely blown away! As an 11-year-old boy…it was the best movie ever! I’ve grown to like that movie more over time, and it’s always interesting for me to learn new things about it and hear behind-the-scenes stories.

I have a good one for you today that I just found out! It involves the working relationship between Tim Burton and Jack Nicholson. Burton was only 30 when he directed Batmanand after that it was only his third feature film Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure And Cockroach juice.

The pressure was on when Burton found himself at the helm of one of the highest-budget films ever at the time, and he had to deliver! There were also many jobs involved. Also, Burton found himself working with Jack Nicholson, one of the biggest movie stars of the time, and the director had no idea what to expect.

During a recent interview with Empire, Burton explained how shy he was at the time, saying, “In the past, I could barely string several sentences together. I had serious trouble communicating.” As you can imagine, that didn’t really help him as he tried to direct one of the biggest movies ever, and he also had to work and communicate with Nicholson.

When Nicholsen signed up for the film, his contract stipulated that he would shoot all of his scenes in a three-week window and be allowed to leave to watch Los Angeles Lakers home games. He also agrees to drop his standard $10 million fee to $6 million for a cut in the film’s box office and merchandising, which made him a lot of money! Oh yeah! He also got full marks in the film over the star Michael Keaton. Only Nicholson could have done it.

When filming started and Burton started working with Nicholson, there was an interesting way for them to communicate. Burton couldn’t understand the actor and needed someone to help him translate what Nicholson was saying. He went on to explain that they had “caveman style communication.”

“Jack has a very abstract way of talking. So he’d tell me things and I’d be like, ‘Yeah, I get it,’ and then I’d go to somebody, ‘What the fuck was that? talk about?’ So there was this weird communication: non-linear, non-connective… But it was very clear to me. I felt like we had good caveman-style communication.”

Despite communication difficulties, Nicholson was supportive of Burton and felt supported by the actor. He says he found it comforting to have “one of the greatest actors of all time” present and in his corner:

“[Nicholson] he protected me and nurtured me, kept me going, just not letting the whole thing overwhelm me. I really felt supported by him in a very profound way. I was young and dealing with a big studio, and he just gave me the confidence to do what I needed to do. And him being a backing vocal had a lot of resonance with the studio. He got me through everything. He gave me strength.”

Nicholson gave Burton exactly what he needed to get through the experience and make a great movie. The director continued, “I worked six days a week and burned out because I was afraid I wasn’t doing a good job. I still have amnesia for some things.”

In the end, everything worked out and Burton was amazing Batman movie that was a big hit!