For actor Nick Nolte, stardom was slow coming--and after 20 years of hacking away, he decided he'd had enough. So Nolte, whose career took off after he starred in the TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man at the age of 36, started turning down studio projects in favor independent films a couple of years ago. Having starred in movies such as Prince of Tides and I Love Trouble, Nolte turned his back on the Hollywood studios to focus on films that offered substance over style: Mother Night, The Thin Red Line, Breakfast of Champions, even earning an Oscar nomination for the downbeat independent, Affliction. In part, Nolte says, he did it for his own well-being. Having broken through in Rich Man, Poor Man and The Deep, Nolte spent the rest of the '70s and '80s moving back and forth between serious films and big-budget entertainment, doing everything from North Dallas Forty and Who'll Stop the Rain to Under Fire and Down and Out in Beverly Hills.