Nick Nolte appears in the January issue of GQ with a long, rambling interview that discusses all matter of drug-related subjects and his run-ins with the law. The man just might be flat out insane after his many years of “liquid ecstasy” (which he habitually mixed with cranberry juice) use, but he’s winning much praise as a possible Oscar contender for Warrior, which sees him portray an alcoholic father and a man who’s a thousand days sober. Here are a few excerpts from the interview (which might be worth pursuing in full), within which Nolte reveals his life experiences and drops a few details of what we didn’t know about his wild-man “mug shot” that is proudly displayed on his own website, NickNolte.com:

On Aging: “When you start thinking about death more than sex, you know you’re getting old. At 70, you crest that hill. In the sixties you’re still thinking you could do something about this slow disintegration of the body. As Katharine Hepburn used to say to me: ‘Aging, Nick, is boring.’ Now I know what she means.”

On His Big “Return” In Warrior: “All of a sudden, it’s this rediscovery thing.” Nolte says this quite amiably, in the accepting tone of a man who has watched such tides go in and out long enough to know what little influence he has over their motions. “I never went away, you know,” he shrugs.

On The Value Of Not Winning “You don’t learn anything from success. You know, it’s comfortable, it’s nice, it’s warm, but success just leaves you kind of feeling a little bloated.”

On Whether He’d Like An Oscar “I can’t say it doesn’t matter to me…,” he says, and leaves this hanging there for a moment. “But it doesn’t matter to me. I can’t say that, but that’s what I’m going to say. Because it doesn’t really matter in the final end. Especially as you get closer to death, it really doesn’t matter. If I do have a chance to get it, I’d like it to be before I’m ten days to death. Because that’s going to be an ugly picture.”

On His Infamous Wild Man Photo: The common misconception about the freak-haired-wild-man photo taken that day is that it was Nolte’s police mug shot. It was not. (He did pose for a mug shot, but that has never leaked.) At the hospital where Nolte was taken for a blood test, a young officer asked him if he could take a Polaroid. “I said, ‘Come on, you don’t really want to ask that, do you?’ ” Nolte recalls. But he did. Nolte figured that the officer had been talking to the others about how this might be worth having, and so Nolte made him agree that, if he posed, the young officer would share any proceeds with his colleagues. “And I let him shoot the Polaroid.”

On Becoming A Father Again At Age 66: “You’re just so much more aware, so much more present. Your time is precious now. I’m basically overall healthy, but at this age you just don’t know, so it’s really been a treat. A real joy.” Sophia was born in a water pool in the bedroom right here, three midwives in attendance, and spent her first forty minutes resting on top of her mother before the umbilical cord was cut. “If you can let her stay attached for a long time, those stem cells build up,” Nolte explains. “We didn’t see a doctor until the next day. It was a great experience.”

[From GQ]

The guy is as nutty as a pot-laced fruitcake, right? He’s got a known history of studying his own blood under a microscope and readily admits that he’ll one day take GHB again (but only if it’s “medically supervised“), and that thing about the umbilical cord stem cells building up, well, it sounds wacky, to be honest. Does anyone know if there’s something to that theory?

Here are some recent photos of Nolte on the set of Gangster Squad. You thought it was just some Ryan Gosling movie, right?

Photos courtesy of GQ and Fame

These are new photos of Russell Crowe at a big announcement in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday. The announcement? He’s just been named the narrator of the remake of Ben-Hur. I know, I know, but wait: it’s not some God-awful Hollywood remake where they cast Orly Bloom’s Dirtlip in the Charleton Heston part. No, it’s going to be a “live theater performance” in Australia, and Russell is going to take part in the live theater event – as the narrator. So, basically, he gets to sit around and eat doughnuts while he watches Orly Bloom act as Judah Ben-Hur live on stage. (Note: I have no idea who is actually going to play Judah Ben-Hur.)

So, is it just me, or does Russell look… a bit chubby? Not fat, mind you, I’m not saying he looks horrible or anything, I’m just pointing out that he looks very puffy in these photos. Russell seemed to give a bunch of interviews yesterday (probably answering questions at this photo call), and he ended up talking about how he just quit smoking. Yep… that’s probably why he’s gained some weight. Good for him for quitting!

Russell Crowe used to smoke so much his six-year-old son called cigarette smoke “daddy smell”.

The 46-year-old actor has two sons with his wife Danielle Spencer, Charlie, six, and three-year-old Tennyson. Russell has been a heavy smoker since he was 10 years old, but quit earlier this year.

He has now been smoke-free for almost two months, and is still marvelling at the way it has transformed his life. He says his young sons were so used to his habit, they thought cigarette smoke was his natural scent, and would often smell it in the street and assume he was nearby and hiding from them.

“Charlie called it Daddy smell. With Dani ,they’d walk past smokers on the street he’d say, ‘Mum, Dads here somewhere (sic),’” Russell wrote on his Twitter page.

Russell found quitting smoking much more difficult than he had anticipated. He posted messages on the social networking site daily for the first week, complaining of “wild dreams”, excess sweating and a hacking cough.

[From Music Rooms]

Yeah, I’m still thinking that he’s gained weight because he quit. His puffiness is probably from drinking too. Yesterday, Starpulse called him out for being “too tubby” and they claimed that there are a flurry of rumors that Russell had to be digitally “slimmed down” in Robin Hood. However, his rep claims those reports are “not true.” Meanwhile, as I look at these photos, I’m reminded of how I gave up my Russell crush for my Gerard Butler crush. They could play brothers, they look so much alike, in my opinion. Dirty moobtastic bastards.

By the way, I just wanted to throw this photo in here, since we’re talking about men gaining weight – Nick Nolte has certainly put on some pounds, hasn’t he? The difference with Nick is that the extra weight looks really good on him, he doesn’t look so gaunt and strung out. He was photographed on the NYC set of Arthur (the one with Russell Brand). It’s good to seem him working again too!

Russell on July 27, 2010 in Sydney. Nick Nolte on July 24, 2010. Credit for all: Fame.

According to various sources Nick Nolte’s house suffered serious damage early this morning as it was engulfed in flames. Some media outlets are reporting there was extensive damage while others are reporting it was burned to the ground. Nolte was at home at the time and managed to escape, but he suffered smoke inhalation. Fire fighters found him on the scene trying to put out the blaze on his own.

Hollywood actor Nick Nolte suffered smoke inhalation and abrasions during a fire at his Malibu, Calif., home Tuesday morning, TMZ reported.

The blaze is believed to have started in a bedroom due to an electrical problem, the entertainment news Web site said.

Firefighters reportedly arrived to find the house on fire and the 67-year-old actor trying to extinguish it himself.

TMZ said the blaze caused an estimated $500,000 in damage to the contents of the house and about $1 million damage to the structure.

[From UPI]

The Associated Press says that the home was burned to the ground and is a total loss. Not that I don’t trust the accuracy of TMZ’s reports one hundred percent, but I’m a little more inclined to go with the AP on this one.

Nick Nolte has escaped a fire that burned a Malibu home to the ground.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says the actor slightly cut his hand when he broke a window and fled the home shortly after 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The Sheriff’s Department says an electrical malfunction caused the fire, which caused an estimated $3.5 million in damage and left the home a total loss.

[From the AP]

Celebrities often feel so apart and separate from us that we forget that they’re regular people who can lose their homes and get in car accidents like the rest of us. It’s probably safe to assume that Nolte had insurance on the home so it likely won’t be a huge financial setback but will probably be a big emotional one. He’s lucky he escaped and seems to be relatively unhurt.

Here’s Nick with Clytie Lane at the “Tropic Thunder” Los Angeles premiere on August 11th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Nick Nolte’s girlfriend introduced him to a strange way to stop drinking. She invited her Hare Krishna friends over to their house and they started having drum circles and chanting. The four principles of the Hindu Hare Krishna movement are strict vegetarianism with no meat, fish or eggs, no sex for non-procreation purposes, no gambling and no intoxication which includes alcohol, caffeine and tobacco. Nolte, 67, was photographed passed out drunk on the floor of an airport in Hawaii last July, and has had a lifelong battle with alcoholism. The Hare Krishna’s have come to his rescue though, and he’s found that their chanting relaxes him and helps him stay away from booze:

Nick’s live-in girlfriend, Clytie, 39, introduced the star to the Hare Krishna group, hoping they could help him beat the bottle, confide soruces. “As strange as it may sound, the religious cult seems to have done the trick,” revealed the pal.

“The Hare Krishnas come to Nick’s Malibu property at night, hold drum circles and chant for him.

“Nick always joins in, and it makes him feel better. It relaxes him.

“Since the Krishnas came into his life, he’s completely lost his desire to drink.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, May 12, 2008]

The Hare Krishnas, or International Society for Krishna Consciousness, are one of the most controversial cults in the world. They were exposed in huge scandals in the 1980s when it came out that children were being sexually and physically abused in their boarding schools. They’ve been accused of brainwashing young converts and turning them against their families and loved ones, forcing them to live in abject poverty as slaves to the movement.

Good for Nolte for being able to quit drinking. The Hare Krishnas are dangerous, though, and have been involved in murder and abuse scandals that rival even the more hardcore cults. You wonder how much it’s going to cost Nolte in the long run if he gets involved with a cult.

Nolte’s girlfriend Clytie Lane was once his Pilate’s teacher and they now have a seven month-old baby daughter together.

Update: A lot of people from different sources are vouching for the Krishnas and are saying it’s not fair to judge them based on the rampant child abuse at their boarding schools in the 70s and 80s. A similar child abuse scandal happened within the Catholic Church and it is fair criticism to say that I am biased in this article. The ISCON organization has arguably changed considerably since then and is willing to discuss their past issues with cult experts as well as change their practices.

Here is a discussion thread I found which I think helps explain my original position on this issue. I would still be reluctant to get involved with a group with this type of history.

Nick Nolte is shown on 1/31/08 at the premiere of “The Spiderwick Chronicles” thanks to PRPhotos.

Poor Nick Nolte. He can’t even lie around drunk on an airport floor without people snapping his picture and spreading it all over the Internets. At least he’s a friendly drunk. Onlookers say he happily posed for pictures in the moments he was able to lift his head up to enjoy a treat from the vending machine.

Nolte was in the airport in Hawaii for a couple of hours while his flight was delayed. Unlike other celebrities he cares about the environment and flies commercial.

Nolte was probably dog tired. According to IMDB he’s been surprisingly working on a lot of projects. He has one film coming out this year, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh with Sienna Miller, and three next year.

Surely these pictures will soon replace his mug shot as the top google image results for Nolte.

Thanks to TMZ for this story and pictures.