Nick Nolte Made A Rare Public Appearance At 85

Nick Nolte, 85, made one of his rare public appearances Tuesday at the Venice Film Festival to premiere Company, Casey Affleck's third feature as a director and first since 2019.

The three-time Oscar nominee has not often appeared in public in recent years, making his Venice appearance alongside Affleck, Caylee Cowan, Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy and Adelaide Clemens a notable moment.

Company follows a series of characters across multiple timelines, beginning with a mysterious woman named Evelyn who arrives uninvited at a holiday gathering and tells the story of Tom, an aging hermit played by Nolte, who rescues a stranded actress during a Colorado blizzard in 1953.

At the press conference Nolte spoke about preparation and timing, describing how his job in the film was fundamentally about listening. "The function I had was to listen, to really listen, to be there, that was a lesson in itself," he said.

Affleck was effusive. "Nick could go to vulnerable and emotional places very, very quickly, and over and over again if necessary," he said. "It was the kind of skill that comes from just a lifetime of doing it and doing it well. There was not a wasted take and trying to pick which one to use was really the only difficulty."

Nolte was PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive in 1992. He turns 85 with a Venice premiere. The math tracks.