Veteran actor Michael Douglas, a two-time Oscar winner who starred in classic movies like “Wall Street” and “Fatal Attraction,” says he has no plans to act again unless “something special came up.”
“I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop,” the 80-year-old told reporters on Sunday at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic, where he was celebrating the 50th anniversary of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” which he co-produced.
“I had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set … I’m very happy with taking the time off.
“I have no real intentions of going back. I say I’m not retired because if something special came up, I’d go back, but otherwise I’m quite happy just to watch my wife (actress Catherine Zeta-Jones) work.”
Douglas still has two projects that are yet to be released – a movie, “Looking Through Water,” and a miniseries, “Reagan & Gorbachev,” according to IMDB.
Douglas’ seven-decade career spans both acting and producing. It began in 1966 when he had an uncredited role in “Cast a Giant Shadow,” a movie packed with the biggest stars of the 60s, including his father, Kirk Douglas.
His acting breakthrough came in 1972 when he appeared in the TV series “The Streets of San Francisco,” before he picked up an Academy Award in 1976 for producing “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
He won his second Oscar, this time in the best actor category, for his portrayal of a morally bankrupt corporate raider in the 1987 movie “Wall Street.”
As he got older, Douglas has become less prolific, particularly after he was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer in 2010.
“Stage 4 cancer is not a holiday, but there’s not many choices, are there?” he said on Sunday, recalling the treatment he underwent.
“I went with the program, involving chemo and radiation, and was fortunate. I had a couple of friends during that same time who were not so lucky … The surgery would have caused me not to be able to talk, as well as removing part of your jaw, and that would have been limiting as an actor.”
After recovering from cancer, he appeared in the Marvel franchise, playing Dr. Hank Pym in “Ant-Man,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp” and “Avengers: Endgame.”
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