20 Questions: Michael Douglas

Syndicated television reporter Nancy Collins caught up with Michael Douglas in a limousine on the way to The Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. Collins, who has long since censed to be impressed by either limousines or movie stars, told us: "He's a sweetheart, without being oppressive about it. He's intelligent, ambitious and driven, and yet he's a man who has retained the capacity for recreational laziness."

1.

Playboy: What advice would you give to an aspiring young film maker?

Douglas: I'd tell him or her to begin by making porno flicks. My own first film--and, of course, this is a little-known fact--was something called Jew Gone Bad. Incidentally, it was never released. In fact, it has never been seen outside my home.

2.

Playboy: The American male seems to be very confused nowadays. He doesn't seem to have a role anymore. How do you explain that?

Douglas: The American male today doesn't know whether to be the sensitive man or the macho man. He's torn between dominance and supersensitivity. On the one hand, there's all the pressure about equal rights and a sense of fair play toward women, while on the other hand, women are complaining that men are getting too easy, too soft.

3.

Playboy: Where do you put yourself in that framework?

Douglas: A sensitive young man who likes to knock them around.

4.

Playboy: What do you find sexy in a woman?

Douglas: Intelligence and a sense of humor. And as far as dressing goes. I like something left to the imagination. I'd like to think maybe half the people missed what I saw.

5.

Playboy: Is there a difference between what is sexually attractive in an actress and what is sexually attractive in a woman who is not an actress?

Douglas: Yes. Basically, an actress is being paid a lot of money to be sexy, attractive and charming and intelligent. That's her job. It's almost a Western example of a geisha. I generally find a woman who is not in the business more attractive because she's not on. I find people the most attractive when they're not on, when they can't help themselves, when their appeal surfaces unconsciously.

6.

Playboy: How far would you go in a sex scene in a movie?

Douglas: I firmly believe in wearing a cardboard roll in my pants. In fact, I have no standards other than frontal nudity. Actually, if you're playing a part, you can't let your own views come into it. If a nude scene were an integral part of a character and not there solely for titillation purposes, then there's no problem. Just take your own towel with you.

7.

Playboy: What is your worst fault?

Douglas: I love carrying grudges. And I'm particulariy jealous when it involves anybody I feel possessive of. Like my wife. But I think my worst fault is probably hostility. Keeping score. Tit for tat. If I've been screwed, if I've had a formal shaft--and usually it has to do with something that happened earlier in my career--I don't forget. If I get a jab, I don't turn the other cheek.

8.

Playboy: Have you always gotten revenge when you've wanted to?

Douglas: No, but I have a good list. Keeping grudges gives you a lot of energy. It's a great motivator. And I can wait it out. I like finding devious ways to get back. Sometimes it's actually like I'm totally sick; you know. "Four years ago, you son of a bitch, you did this to me, and now. . . ."

9.

Playboy: What else are you excessive about?

Douglas: Anything that makes me giggle.

10.

Playboy: Speaking of giggling, you've worked with Jane Fonda. She seems so earnest about everything. Does the woman have any sense of humor?

Douglas: Yeah, she does. If you talk dirty to her, she likes it. She's got a great giggle.

11.

Playboy: You like working with her?

Douglas: I admire her a lot. She can juggle her life, as active as it is, between politics, her career and her family. It's extraordinary the amount of work she gets done in a day. It's an example for a lot of people.

12.

Playboy: Your new film, It's My Turn, is about a woman--played by Jill Clayburgh--who is in love with two men. Do you think you could be in love with two people?

Douglas: I think it's hard enough to be in love with one person at a time. However, I think you could be in love with someone and be having fantasies about another person. But that gets complicated. Then you're not so much in love as in confusion.

13.

Playboy: How does working with a female director differ from working with a male director?

Douglas: I loved working with Claudia Weill. Almost every guy will tell you there comes a moment when the director takes the leading lady, grabs her by the shoulders, takes her for a walk and says. "Honey, what's bothering you?" In other words, she gets pampered. Most guys would tell you they would like to be treated like that. Well, during It's My Turn. I got asked what was bothering me all the time, and I loved it.

14.

Playboy: You live in California, the home of hot tubs and hard drugs. You read that Government officials are accused of using cocaine. Does the idea that politicians--even young ones, who are, like you, products of the Sixties--indulge in cocaine bother you?

Douglas: In cocaine? Yeah. It's not the kind of drug I would like to see any major judgment calls made on. In a time of crisis. I definitely do not want to think that the President is snorting anything while making decisions that affect my life. On the other hand, I also don't understand the publicity that this gossip generates.

15.

Playboy: Last year, we saw a rash of male-bonding films--all about men finding themselves through sports or war. Why is the movie industry--or, perhaps. American audiences--so obsessed with the themes of male bonding and fraternity?

Douglas: I once heard someone say that the one thing men and women have in common is that they both like the company of men. I think that is true.

16.

Playboy: After (concluded on page 234) Michael Douglas (continued from page 197) finishing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, you spent a year just kicking around, hanging out. You've described it, basically, as a year of debauching--a year in which you and Jack Nicholson went everywhere and did most everything to excess. Would you recommend that experience to all men?

Douglas: Yeah, I'd recommend it. I think we all have to let loose once in a while. Men are under a lot of pressure. You can't, for instance, be a pig anymore--that's out. You have to struggle and work hard to be this gentle, balanced man, only to have women then find you boring. So it's confusing and debauchery can, at least, take your mind off things for a while. Now, I'm not promoting that life for a married man. But I waited a good long time before I got married. And with all the fun or good that debauchery seems to offer, it is also, when you're doing it, quite possibly one of the lowest times in your life. Well, you have to reach that point before you start pulling yourself around and up. But still, for a short period, I'd recommend a little debauchery.

17.

Playboy: How did becoming a father change your life?

Douglas: I found out I enjoy responsibility. I'm a guy who ducked respon-sibility all my life; and now I'm finding that with a wife and a baby, I'm getting more work done than ever before. I've got a great fantasy life and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Families are real nice.

18.

Playboy: You always make movies about women who work and have careers. Why doesn't your own wife work?

Douglas: Well, she's raising a child right now and has been kind enough to address herself to my career right at this time. With my job, we travel a lot and have to go all over the place. So, if she were working, she couldn't travel with me. Right now, the kid is young enough not to be in school, so he can travel with us, too. But she speaks five languages and when I met her, she was studying to be in the diplomatic corps, so I'm sure she will be using that later on.

19.

Playboy: Who are your heroes?

Douglas: I like Johnny Carson a lot. I admire my father a lot. And I think Benji's pretty impressive, too.

20.

Playboy: If your life were a country-and-western song, what would be its title?

Douglas: Love Ain't Hard, It's Warm.