Davis said Hoffman's advice helped her ward off unwanted attention from men in Hollywood.
Geena Davis is sharing some advice that her Tootsie co-star Dustin Hoffman gave her, which helped her ward off unwanted attention from men in Hollywood.
Davis, a Victoria's Secret model living in New York at the time, was trying to break into acting when she landed the role opposite the veteran movie star. In addition to encouraging the young actress to "read a lot of books," Hoffman delivered a line that stuck with the Thelma & Louise star -- one that would come in handy not long after when she claimed Jack Nicholson tried to put the moves on her.
"Say, 'Well, you’re very attractive. I would love to, but it would ruin the sexual tension between us,'" Davis told The New Yorker of the advice, which she includes in her new memoir, Dying of Politeness.
Shortly after the film's 1982 release, Davis said her modeling agent took her and "a couple of other actor-slash-models to Hollywood to meet casting directors" where she met Nicholson, who was on hand for every single one of those dinners.
"He happened to know Jack Nicholson, and every single night Jack Nicholson had dinner with us," she explained. "Then one day, there was a note under the door that said, 'Please call Jack Nicholson at this number.' I was, like, I can’t believe it!"
It wasn't long into the phone call that Davis realized that the conversation wasn't work-related.
"So, I said, 'Hello, Mr. Nicholson. This is Geena the model. You called me?' He said, 'Hey, Geena. When is it gonna happen?' I was, like, Oh, no -- why didn’t I realize this is what it was going to be about?" Davis said, before turning to Hoffman's safe advice.
She continued, "It immediately came into my head what to say: 'Uh, Jack, I would love to. You’re very attractive. But I have a feeling we’re going to work together at some point in the future, and I would hate to have ruined the sexual tension between us.' He was, like, 'Oh, man, where’d you get that?' So, it worked."
This isn't the first time Davis has recalled this anecdote with Nicholson. When she shared it with Jimmy Kimmel back in 2014, she revealed that Nicholson's alleged sexual advances came after the now 85-year-old actor invited her and some of her model-actress friends over for lunch, where he made "tuna fish sandwiches and milk." After that experience, which she described as "weird," it's not entirely shocking that Davis turned down another invite from the actor.
ET has reached out to Nicholson's reps for comment.
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