Easy Rider wasn't just a movie that helped explain the drug culture of the 60s, it also helped finance the drug culture of the 60s, with the cast and crew lighting up constantly on the set. During the filming of the infamous campfire freakout scene, Jack Nicholson estimated that they'd all smoked north of 150 joints. Just for that one scene. Talking to Playboy Magazine, Nicholson recalled how each time he performed another take, or the director wanted to shoot from another angle, that would invariably lead to the actor smoking another joint, rolled with "pretty good Mexican grass." And yet, according to Peter Fonda, Nicholson remained a consummate pro and never forgot his lines or broke character. Though Nicholson stayed true to the script, even while riding a ridiculous high, he says the perpetual puffing helped him reimagine the character, coming up with different mannerisms and new ways of saying the lines. The point of that campfire scene is to introduce Jack's character to marijuana, and it had to show Nicholson slowly becoming stoned. But since he was already lit after the first couple of takes, the acting job became reversed, and Nicholson would have to act like he wasn't stoned at the beginning of the scene.
