Jack Nicholson nearly bailed on The Bucket List following a bit of a health scare. (Sun Media file photo)

LOS ANGELES -- Jack Nicholson's own health scare nearly derailed his new film about dying cancer patients.

The Bucket List, which opens in limited Canadian markets on Christmas Day, stars Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as terminally-ill old-timers who scribble down a laundry list of everything they want to do before they kick the bucket.

But after spending eight weeks in bed following surgery on a saliva gland, the 70-year-old Oscar winner nearly bailed on the Rob Reiner-directed dramedy.

"I was worried about my energy -- being in bed for eight weeks before. It wasn't a big thing -- just a saliva gland I had to have operated on ... but I was tired. I was panicked," Nicholson says. "It takes a lot of energy to do a movie."

Confirms Reiner, "He was freaked out about it. He was worried because his face was swollen up from (the surgery). He said, 'Rob, I can't go in front of the cameras (like this).' And I said, 'OK, Jack, there's an anti-goiter clause in your contract' ... But he got better and he was able to utilize his experience in the hospital for the film, so it worked out. But it was touchy for awhile. It was tough for him."

"I did what I should do," Nicholson says. "I worked harder. I didn't want to self-prophesize catastrophe and not make a full effort."

On a personal front, the time spent hospitalized also had an impact.

"I used to think it was my job to go into hospitals and up the vibe and make people feel better. While walking down those corridors at night, looking at those men sitting there in those chairs," Nicholson says, slouching forward motionlessly, "I suddenly felt a lot less antic and I'm sure I'll behave quite differently (in the future). I don't think I was wrong to want to cheer people up, but you've got to know your audience."

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