Cher is looking back at the harsh reality check she received early in her acting career from legendary filmmaker Mike Nichols, years before he eventually helped turn her into an Oscar-nominated actress. During a candid appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Cher recalled approaching Nichols in the early days of her Hollywood transition from music to acting, hoping to audition for one of his films. At the time, however, nobody in Hollywood seemed willing to take her seriously as an actress.
Cher explained that she was dating music mogul David Geffen during that period and had been trying hard to secure auditions, but major filmmakers simply were not interested.
That eventually led her to Nichols.
According to Cher, the director immediately shut her down.
“Cher, there’s only two kinds of women, and you’re not the right one,” she recalled Nichols telling her.
Even more shocking, Nichols reportedly refused to even let her audition for the role.
Still, Cher did not back down.
“Well, you know what? I’m talented, and someday you’re going to be sorry,” she remembered replying.
Despite the rejection, Cher said Nichols remained kind during the conversation and told her he would “keep her in mind” for future projects.
Years later, that promise turned into one of the biggest breakthroughs of her acting career.
Nichols eventually cast Cher opposite Meryl Streep in the 1983 drama Silkwood, where she played Dolly Pelliker, a close friend of Karen Silkwood, portrayed by Streep.
The performance earned Cher her very first Academy Award nomination and helped establish her as a serious actress in Hollywood.
Before Silkwood, Cher had already started proving critics wrong with projects like Robert Altman’s Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, but Nichols’ film became the major turning point in her screen career.
Cher also revealed during the interview that two Hollywood icons played a major role in encouraging her to pursue acting seriously.
One was Francis Ford Coppola, whom she said she still deeply loves and admires.
The other was legendary actress Shelley Winters, who gave her blunt advice that stuck with her forever.
“If you want to be serious, and you want to be an actress, get your ass to New York,” Winters reportedly told her.
Cher’s acting career would later include acclaimed films like Mask, Moonstruck, Mermaids and The Witches of Eastwick, eventually earning her an Oscar win for Moonstruck in 1988. What once began with rejection from one of Hollywood’s biggest directors ultimately became one of the industry’s most iconic comeback stories.