During his early career before his breakthrough, Jack Nicholson auditioned for the lead role in Mike Nichols' The Graduate, only to lose the part to Dustin Hoffman, whose 1967 performance earned widespread acclaim and launched his career. At that time, Nicholson was an unproven talent, though he would go on to become one of cinema's greatest and most honoured performers, winning multiple Academy Awards across a legendary career spanning decades.

In 2003, more than three decades after this early professional rejection, co-star Amanda Peet observed that Nicholson had never moved past the disappointment. During conversations on the set of Something's Gotta Give, he became visibly emotional when discussing The Graduate, expressing what Peet described as intense jealousy about his lost opportunity. What struck her most was that someone at the absolute peak of professional success and creative accomplishment could still carry such fresh-seeming anguish about a film audition from his struggling early years.