The Michael Douglas Fan Page
ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
Glad To Be Bad: Michael Douglas Loves Playing Evil Characters
By LOUIS B. HOBSON
The Calgary Sun
May 28, 1998
NEW YORK -- Michael Douglas is feeling so good about being so bad.
In the thriller A Perfect Murder (opening June 5), Douglas plays a man who
discovers his wife (Gwyneth Paltrow) is having an affair. Instead of confronting
his wife, he hires the lover (Viggo Mortensen) to murder her.
"It's another of my prince of darkness roles," admits Douglas, alluding to his
edgy performances in Wall Street and The Game.
"For an actor, it's great fun to play one of these hungry white sharks. Audiences
love to hate them. I wanted my performance in Murder to be a bit theatrical."
Douglas says he has never had any qualms about playing unlikable characters.
"That's why I give Sharon Stone (Basic Instinct) and Glenn Close (Fatal
Attraction) such credit for their brave career choices."
It is not his career, but his life, that has demanded bravery from Douglas these
past five years.
He lost his personal assistant of nearly 20 years to a sudden heart attack. His
father, Kirk Douglas, is slowly recovering from a stroke; his brother, Eric,
continues to have headline-making substance-abuse problems; and his own
20-year marriage to Diandra Douglas ended in divorce.
"I'm single and living in New York. It's great. I have the same apartment I've
always had. I just bought the one next to it, knocked down some walls and made
it twice as big."
Douglas says people think of him as a Hollywood brat but explains he "grew up
in New York with my mom from the time I was five.
"When my parents divorced, she moved to New York with us, so I know and
love this city."
He says being single has made him "a bit irresponsible but also a bit reflective.
My son Cameron is 20. Sharing an apartment with my kid as a pair of swinging
singles is not where I expected to be at 53."
Douglas has been dating ABC news reporter Elizabeth Vargas, but he insists it is
not a serious relationship.
"It's difficult for me to meet women because my crowd is much older. I know
that for some of the young women I do meet, a relationship with me can be
envisioned as a benefit to their career."
He stops, then laughs, adding: "But what the heck, as long as we're having some
fun."
In the past decade, Douglas has been hearing how much he looks and acts like his
dad. "Even dad and I can see those similarities.
"When I was young, I avoided dipping into (our gene pool) for fear I would be
criticized. Now I feel confident enough in my own abilities to tap into it if it
benefits the character."
Click Here to read more articles and interviews.
Back to the Michael Douglas Fan Page