One actor who finds bad-guy roles to be a good deal

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(June 5, 1998) -- Michael Douglas is still surprised so many actors pass on parts because the characters aren't very likable.

"Do you know five women turned down the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? Douglas says. "Finally, Louise Fletcher took the part. And she won the Oscar."

Douglas has had a lot of success playing guys you wouldn't invite over for supper -- like the angry sociopath in Falling Down and the greedy manipulator, Gordon Gekko, in Wall Street. The latter earned him an Academy Award as well.

And now, in A Perfect Murder, he's playing a cuckolded businessman who plots his wife's murder.

"A lot of actors won't take the chances he takes," says Perfect Murder director Andrew Davis. "They won't play despicable characters.

"But Michael is a professional, and at this stage in his career, he's like a great wine. And with this role, he's ready to drink."

The part fits Douglas like a glove. He's quite similar to Gekko -- a man of style and wealth, moving in powerful circles.

"Michael said he wanted to do it, which surprised me," Davis says, "only because I assumed he wanted out of that milieu."

"I've always chosen projects from the heart," Douglas says, during a recent interview at a Manhattan hotel.

"When this project came up, though, I was in the process of getting a divorce," he adds, with a sly smile. "So maybe it was time to make a movie about killing a wife."

A versatile veteran, the 53-year-old Douglas has also been convincing as heroes (Romancing the Stone), cheating husbands (Fatal Attraction) and even as a chief executive (The American President).

And he's been able to expand beyond the considerable shadow of his famous father, Kirk Douglas, both as an actor and as a smart producer. (He won his first Oscar as co-producer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.)

But despite 20 years of moderate fame and fortune, Douglas didn't make the A-list until he flirted with the dark side of corporate America in Wall Street.

Few actors today are as convincing as Douglas, when he sports an expensive suit and swept-back hair, points at a computer screen with his top-shelf cigar and plots a corporate takeover. And in A Perfect Murder, the character also finds time to plot his wife's demise.

But perhaps the biggest challenge for Douglas was making the film's marriage believable. After all, his "wife" is played by Gwyneth Paltrow, the daughter of actress Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow, two of Douglas' oldest friends.

"Did I question early on about performing with a girl I once bounced on my knee?" Douglas asks, rhetorically. "Yes. But I also recognized she was right for the role, and the relationship was right for the film."

So, Douglas adds, he was relieved to discover that the little girl he once knew had grown into a capable, highly professional actress.

"I know my dad teased Michael about avoiding any love scenes," Paltrow says. "But it was never really a problem, because there never was a sex scene between us in the script.

"Obviously, it would be creepy if I was married to Michael Douglas in real life. But it makes sense in the movie."

Douglas hopes to take on a heroic role next "and then maybe a romantic comedy," just to keep folks guessing.

"And then it'll be time to get back to the dark side again."