Geena Davis says she used Dustin Hoffman advice for Jack Nicholson encounter

Geena Davis says that she used a piece of advice from Dustin Hoffman for an encounter with Jack Nicholson.

The actor claimed that she once shut down sexual advances from Nicholson by recalling some advice given to her by her Tootsie co-star.

In a new interview with The New Yorker, Davis, 66, spoke about her relationship with Hoffman who apparently encouraged her to “read a lot of books”.

Hoffman also suggested a way that Davis could put off advances from men in the industry. He advised her to say: “Well, you’re very attractive. I would love to, but it would ruin the sexual tension between us.”

Davis – who had been a model before breaking into acting – said that she “saved the advice away” and then used it during her interaction with Nicholson.

Shortly after the release of Tootsie in 1982 – which starred Davis, Hoffman, Jessica Lange, and Bill Murray – she recalled that her modelling agent took her and “a couple of other actor-slash-models to Hollywood to meet casting directors”.

Davis claimed that her agent “happened to know” Nicholson, who would have dinner with Davis and her peers “every single night”.

On one occasion, the actor claims she received a note under the door, reading: “Please call Jack Nicholson at this number.”

Davis went on to recall the alleged details of the phone call that took place: “So I said, ‘Hello, Mr Nicholson. This is Geena, the model. You called me?’ He said, ‘Hey, Geena. When is it gonna happen?’”

Davis said that she was surprised by the inquiry and used the piece of advice given to her by Hoffman.

“I was like, ‘Oh, no – why didn’t I realise this is what it was going to be about?’” she said.

“But 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?’” the actor claimed. “So it worked.”

The Independent has contacted a representative of Nicholson’s for comment.

Davis previously recalled the alleged encounter in 2014. She has also written about it in her newly released memoir Dying of Politeness: A Memoir.

In another interview this week, she said she finds it “awful” to watch back footage of an uncomfortable television appearance with her The Quick Change co-star Bill Murray.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show on Friday 22 October, she recalled the moment she knew Brad Pitt was a perfect fit for Thelma & Louise.