NOLTE SCENTS REJECTION DURING ‘BEVERLY HILLS’

Immerse yourself in the role, advise the acting gurus. And that’s just what Nick Nolte did in Paul Mazursky’s new movie, “Down and Out in Beverly Hills.”

In the film (opening Jan. 31), Nolte plays a homeless street bum--bearded, filthy and lank-haired. It wasn’t makeup. For authenticity, he decided not to bathe for two months. He didn’t clean his teeth. He wore the same tattered clothes on and off the set. So it was no surprise that, toward the end, few people came near him--and those who had to tried to stay upwind.

“I was a real mess,” admitted Nolte this week. “To make matters worse, I caught a bad dose of poison oak, which covered my whole body in blisters. I was endlessly itching and scratching--which helped the part but made everyone steer clear. Except my wife, Rebecca, of course. . . . And because I never touched a toothbrush, I ended up with several cavities and had to see a dentist.”

Nolte, who looked distinctly repulsive, did no socializing at all while making the movie. And on the one occasion he did venture out--to a local grocery store in Malibu--he ran into trouble.

“I guess I’d forgotten just how bad I looked,” he said. “When I got to the checkout counter, a security man, thinking he’d seen me pocket something, grabbed me and charged me with shoplifting.

“I could have stopped it right away but I wanted to see how far they’d take it, so I let myself be taken to the manager’s office. Of course, everyone was embarrassed when they found out who I was. But they were only doing their job. It was an interesting experience.”

Nolte, who tries hard to resist straight leading-man roles, hopes “Down and Out” will do well; the fate of his recent movie with Katharine Hepburn (“The Ultimate Solution of Grace Quigley”) still rankles.

In it he played a hit man hired by Hepburn to knock off her old and ailing friends. The movie had a very limited run.

“There’s a curious feeling of guilt when that sort of thing happens,” he said. “I know Hepburn feels it, too. You feel you’re partly responsible, that you failed in some way. I’m really sad, because I always thought that film had something to say.”

QUOTE: From Jeff Daniels, the stage (“Fifth of July”) and film (“Purple Rose of Cairo”) actor:

“The hardest thing to do on a stage is just to stand there.”