Michael Douglas Reveals the Stories His Publicist Wishes He Had Left Out of His Memoir

Summary Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with Michael Douglas for his memoir One Helluva Ride. In this interview, Douglas discusses why he wanted to write the memoir now. He talks about the book's on-set stories, his father, teases the more scandalous moments, and comments on his relationship with Catherine Zeta-Jones. "When it’s all over, all we have is memories," two-time Academy Award winner Michael Douglas tells Collider’s Steve Weintraub while discussing his new memoir, One Helluva Ride. The 352-page tell-all is a candid reflection of his life, from being the son of Hollywood star and filmmaker Kirk Douglas to his own meteoric rise to global stardom, and everything that happened in between. One Helluva Ride is a trove of behind-the-scenes stories from the sets of iconic films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, and more. It’s also a deeply personal look at Douglas’s struggles with alcohol and drugs, his battle with stage IV cancer, a turbulent first marriage, the affairs that ensued, and the love story with Catherine Zeta-Jones that signaled a new chapter of his life. While talking with Weintraub, Douglas discusses why he decided to revisit the past, reaching out to “old friends” and working with someone to organize his life chronologically through his films. He also teases the book’s more scandalous moments, why certain films had to be left on the cutting room floor, what it was like growing up Kirk Douglas’s son, and how his relationship with Zeta-Jones happened at just the right time. Don’t miss the full conversation in the video above, with a transcript provided below. Michael Douglas Explains Why He Wrote His Memoir Now "All we have is memories." Image via INSTARimages.com COLLIDER: I've spoken to you a few times. It is always a thrill. I am a huge fan of your work. Thank you for all your years of work making movies and television. MICHAEL DOUGLAS: And thank you for your joy of the cinema. I've been asking this question of everyone recently, and it's going to be part of a supercut: Where do you like to sit in a movie theater? DOUGLAS: I like to sit a third of the way back, on one of the sides, but on the aisle. Thank you. So, I read that you regret not keeping a journal. I feel the exact same way. I wish I had kept a journal. But I'm just curious, how good is your memory, and how much were you having to talk to other people to remember certain things that happened? DOUGLAS: That’s a good question, Steve. My memory is not good, and one of the real reasons why I did this book was to bring all that information back. One of the first steps I did is I hired someone just to chronologically put whatever information they could in a formal order — whatever information, the movies, other stuff — so I could just help me remember and place what years everything sort of happened. Then after that, when we started working and reaching out to old friends and stuff, it was a joy, and a real satisfaction of filling my brain back with old memories that I had forgotten and lost. So that was the real pleasure of this book because, after all, when it's all over, all we have is memories, and it depends how much you have. So, I feel very fortunate. It was one of those side benefits of this career, this business that you're in, that you have films and everything to remind you of different periods in your life. Michael Douglas on His Father Kirk Douglas' Legacy Plus, he reveals which stories his publicist wishes he'd left out. Image via Universal Pictures What is the one story in the book that your publicist probably wishes was not in it? DOUGLAS: [Laughs] Well, I don't want to really say it because I’d be giving away a story, but probably a couple. One is related to a present that my father gave me once for Christmas, which was a couple of beautiful leather suitcases, a tie and leather suitcases, and what I did with them. And another one was when I fell in love with Catherine [Zeta-Jones], and we decided to be exclusive to each other, how many women I had to call that night to say that we'd have to end it because I had met somebody. You lived a very blessed life. DOUGLAS: I have. I have. One of my other possible titles was One Lucky Bastard. I mean, I totally agree with you. I've been so blessed, so fortunate, but that title didn't give me any benefit of the hard work that I had done by myself. Your father was a Hollywood icon. At what point in your life did you feel like you were Michael Douglas and not Kirk Douglas’ son? DOUGLAS: Well, I have always, I mean always felt that I was Kirk Douglas’ son. Kids are generally nasty, so the one benefit that kids had over me at an early age in school was they knew who my father was, which would allow them to make certain assumptions about the person that I was. I.e., “You must be some snobby, spoiled, rich kid. Silver spoon in your mouth,” or whatever it might be. So I have always been very aware of who my father was, because everybody else reminded me. What do you think your dad would think of the book? DOUGLAS: I think he would probably have said the same thing that he said to me after I won the Oscar for Wall Street. He said, “Son, if I knew you were going to be this successful, I would have been nicer to you.” [Laughs] This '80s Sequel Had Too Many Wild Stories to Leave Out Douglas also explains why Wonder Boys, The Game, and Black Rain didn’t make the cut. Image via 20th Century Studios You write about 12 of your films in detail in the book, and I'm just curious, how close did you come to writing about The Game and Wonder Boys or something else in greater detail? DOUGLAS: We struggled on that, and Black Rain. Those are exactly the three other ones that we thought. But in the auspices of keeping a book under 500 pages, we had to make some editorial choices. And I love Wonder Boys. I'm happy you mentioned it. Not many people are as aware of it, but it was a hell of a good picture. It's fantastic. DOUGLAS: But those were three. And I love Black Rain and The Game, but there were a lot of others. I mean, we could have taken out The Jewel of the Nile, except that there were so many extraordinary situations in that picture, the least of which was that Kathleen Turner, after the first one, Kathleen was doing that picture under the pressure of the lawsuit, because I had a contract with her for the second film. And then we had people who died in a plane crash, and so we had to really include that one. That one has the craziest stories, and I don't think people are ready for the craziness of that film. Was there anything that you wrote that you really debated not including just because of how honest or how it involved someone else? What came close to you saying, “Maybe this doesn't go in the book?” DOUGLAS: There was a name or two of women who were important in my life at times, which has been spoken about publicly. That was the only reason that I really included them, because it was like a secret that was known. But I know that they covet their privacy, and I debated that. And a couple of other illegal activities that we weren't sure about. I sort of felt like a lot of the characters that I play, the guy in that kind of gray area, who tries to do the right thing, or maybe does the right thing, always kind of morally on the edge. So I felt there was a transparency in that, and audiences have seemed to know my intentions are good, even if I might fail. "I was beginning to slow down..." Image via Avalon/Starface Photo/Cover Images You write about your wife, Catherine, and I'm just curious, do you think if you had met her earlier in your life, if things would have played out the same way, or is it the timing of when you saw her and met her in your life that that's where the magic needed to happen? DOUGLAS: It's a very good question, Steve. I think it was when I met her, and the very fact of our age difference, that made a major difference. I was beginning to slow down when I met Catherine — not completely, by any means, but beginning — and so she was able to miss the really intense period where I was both producing so many films and acting to be able to finance films. That was during the time of my first marriage, which suffered because of all of this activity and the fact that my oldest son was having drug issues. I don't think you can balance a personal life and a career. I think you’ve got to be jammed in the career and whatever’s happening, or focus more on your personal life. So I was at that point. One Helluva Ride is available for purchase now.