Leaving the Nest

In the early 1970s, Danny DeVito starred in an off-Broadway adaptation of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as the character Martini.

It just so happened that Michael Douglas’ father, Kirk Douglas, had been spending years trying to adapt the novel into a film. Michael took over his father’s work, and when he finally was able to get the project together as a producer, the first actor cast was Danny DeVito as Martini. It was the 5th role DeVito had ever landed in a feature-length film and gave his career a nice little boost.

In other words, if Douglas and DeVito had never been roommates, both of their careers could have been wildly different.