It’s been a long time since he was a student here, but on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Michael Douglas still knows his way around: “This theater was here when I was there 60 years ago “, did he declare. The campus was a Marine base during World War II. “Everything was full of barracks.”
Today, the theater that bears his name in the lobby is a new addition. “The most expensive lobby you can find!” he laughed, adding that he found it appropriate that under his name were the men’s and women’s restrooms.
But when Douglas was enrolled here, he didn’t have the same sense of direction. “When I got to my third year of school, they called me into the counselor’s office,” he remembers. “And they said, ‘You have to declare a major.’ I said, “I don’t know, man. I think…” Well, I thought theater would be easy. But I can’t say it was a great, burning desire. But I thought, “Well, maybe I know something thing about it. My mother is a theater actress. My father is an actor. And so, I began reluctantly. »
His mother was the actress Diana Douglas; his father, the legendary Kirk Douglas.
At first, Michael didn’t quite make the same impression as his parents. On stage, he admitted to keeping a trash can aside, “because I was sick every time. I had terrible stage fright. Terrible stage fright! And I would dive in and come out and give it my all. »
But that unpleasant taste was soon replaced by the sweet smell of success.
Douglas won an Academy Award for producing the film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975. He won another Oscar for his performance in “Wall Street” in 1987.
On both sides of the camera, Douglas has shown an uncanny instinct for choosing projects that respond to current events. His Gordon Gecko came to embody the avarice of the 1980s:
His 1979 thriller “The China Syndrome,” about the dangers of nuclear power, hit theaters just 12 days before the Three Mile Island disaster.
It therefore seems that his latest project, in which he plays Benjamin Franklin, is an exception. “I guess I had never done vintage photos, so that’s part of the reason,” he said.
In the series “Franklin” (broadcast next month on Apple TV+), Douglas plays Benjamin Franklin during his eight years in Paris. It was there that the founding father spent most of the Revolutionary War, asking France to help him in the fight against the British.
To watch a trailer for “Franklin,” click on the video player below:
But while 18th-century France is certainly considered a period, Douglas views the series as just as contemporary as his other works. “For me, this series reminds us how fragile democracy is,” he said. “When you start to think about when we first created our Constitution, and see the kind of shape we’re in today, it’s a wake-up call.”
The success of the revolution was by no means assured. If the Americans had failed, the future founders would have been hanged. Franklin, America’s first diplomat, understood the need to move slowly and steadily with the French. A revealing quote from the series: “Diplomacy should never be a siege, but a seduction. »
“He had a lot of trouble with his fellow members of the Continental Congress – John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and a few others,” Douglas said, “because it took him eight years during his time here to achieve what he wanted.”
It was worth the wait. Franklin gained support from the French; their money and weapons were essential to the survival of the American Republic. Franklin left France at the age of 79, Douglas’s current age.
“Ben Franklin had a hell of a third act,” Rocca said. “The last third of his life was the most productive, in many ways his happiest period. Is that something that inspires you?”
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“Yes, it was a great time for me, but I was very lucky,” Douglas said. “Catherine and I have been together, it will be 25 years this year.”
Douglas met actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in 1998 at a film festival. While Franklin spent years courting France, Douglas worked little faster. Indeed, during their first date, Douglas blurted out to her: “I’m going to be the father of your children.”
Rocca said, “Okay, you were now in your 50s at this point. When you said that, did you think, ‘Wait a minute. Do I really want to have kids at this age?’ “
“With Catherine Zeta-Jones? Yeah!” Douglas laughed. “Yeah. I think we could do that. Twist my arm!”
They are the parents of Dylan and Carys, half-siblings of Cameron, Douglas’s son from his first marriage.
Douglas’s children and his film work are his legacy, as is a stretch of land along the coast from his alma mater. Today, the Douglas Family Preserve in Santa Barbara is a favorite spot for dog walkers, recreational paragliders…and the man himself.
“I read that in the paper,” Douglas said. “They were trying to save this place here. So, I just signed up and they said, ‘If you, you know, contribute X, they’ll name the park after you.'”
Sixty years after reluctantly taking the stage, Michael Douglas looks out, very comfortable. “One of my joys is when people recognize you and say, ‘Hey, thanks for the park, you know? It’s awesome!’ So to see it now and see the significance of it means a lot.”
For more information:
- “Franklin” Series Debuts on Apple TV+ April 12
Story produced by John Goodwin. Publisher: Joseph Frandino.
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