Michael Douglas was down with stage IV cancer for three years. Now he is back with a bang with last Vegas. He talks about his personal highs and lows and why he feels rejuvenated
There are a lot of “lasts” popping up in your career right now. Behind the Candelabra was Steven Soderbergh’s last film, and now we have last Vegas. But you don’t seem like a guy who’s ready for “lasts.”
Well, yes. I had a little break with stage IV cancer for about three years. It’s a point where you think you’re never going to work again. Then, lo and behold, I’m getting some of the best material I’ve ever been handed in my life, between Candelabra and last Vegas. I just finished another picture, with Rob Reiner directing and Diane Keaton co-starring, called Shadow of Your Smile. And I’m producing a little picture called The Reach. I’m very tired and sleepy, so it may be the last! (laughs) I don’t even want to think about working for a little while. But it’s the magic of our business that, on this movie, the four of us, between the ages of 66 and 76, can still work and enjoy it.
Do you feel more inspired in your work these days, or do you approach things as you always haveIJ
I feel much freer. I know I’m acting better just because I have nothing to hide. And I’m enjoying it much more. For a long time, I can’t say I was one who really enjoyed acting. I was always censoring it, or editing it, or analysing it, rather than just going with it.
What’s your craziest las Vegas memoryIJ
I could go all the way back to the 50s, when I was visiting my father, who was very good friends with Sinatra and Dean Martin. I remember going to some of those shows. One time, at a Sinatra show, my father surprised my stepmother on her birthday here, and this big cake was ushered in. My father had been filming in Germany, but suddenly he popped out of the cake and completely surprised my stepmother. I also have a great Kerry Packer story. Kerry Packer was a larger-than-life Australian multimedia guy who was sort of the competitor of Rupert Murdoch. I watched him win about $3 million in less than 45 minutes. He gave his cocktail waitress, who’d given him a Diet Coke, a $45,000 tip.
You once mentioned that one of the greatest things about Vegas, which too few people know about, is its great food. What are some of your eating habits or healthy tips you swear byIJ
I try to keep it down to a dull roar at night, cutting down my alcohol content and trying to keep the carbs out at night. (But) I’ll eat anything at breakfast. We’re known in the business for our breakfast burritos, which are humongous and stuffed with eggs and anything else you want. So I always have avocado and cheese and tomato and bacon. Among cocktails, I like either vodka or martinis. But the caloric content of so many things is just astounding. And as you get older, it’s a little more difficult to lose weight, so you just want to kind of maintain, burning more calories than you take in.
Your character’s look in last Vegas was your idea — the orange tan and the “hazelnut” hair.
We worked on it together — the costume designer, director Jon Turtletaub and I. Jon and I both know that guy in Beverly Hills. I did a movie called Solitary Man, and that was like the East Coast version of the same kind of guy, dressing in black all the time, going out with younger girls.
Which outfits and designers do you love to wear these daysIJ
Although she did win the Emmy this year (for Behind the Candelabra), someone who’s gone unacknowledged for way too long is costume designer Ellen Mirojnick. Ellen and I go all the way back to Fatal Attraction and Wall Street. She’s just excellent, and I rely tremendously on her. In terms of designers, the Canalis are a family that have been very good to me — generous and reciprocal. Tod’s is another company I like. But I’ve never done a lot of deals with anybody, and I’m not an overt stylist. My clothes come from costume fittings and clothes we didn’t use.
How do you look backIJ
A good batting average. I speak in terms of movies. I like the level of quality. Jon and I talked about this in regard to all of the actors in our movie. We all share a pretty good batting average. There are always a few clunkers, and I don’t know if I have the muscular strength to bat clean-up, but I’d be up there in the top four. I’d be batting third, probably. I’ve got a high average. Singles, doubles. I don’t ever do those kind of epic, huge, green-screen movies. But there are a lot of pictures in there. I like my average.