In fact, over the last decade, Nicolas has made a lot of films that, for better and (mostly) worse, have largely varied in quality — and as it turns out, there's a reason for that.
In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Nicolas said that he took on an abundance of work in order to get himself out of debt — $6 million of debt, specifically.
“I was over-invested in real estate," he said. "The real estate market crashed, and I couldn’t get out in time.”
“I paid them all back, but it was about $6 million. I never filed for bankruptcy.”
But Nicolas also insisted that, whatever the role, he was thankful to be hard at work and committing himself fully to the performance.
“Work was always my guardian angel," he said. "It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work.”
“Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I’m not phoning it in, that I care every time.”
