Michael Douglas is discussing changes in Hollywood’s Oscar-winning acting career due to the rise of digital technology and streaming platforms.
“The biggest change in my life and career has been digital,” particularly in sound production, Douglas said during an informal conversation Friday at the Red Sea Film Festival in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He recalls that in the 1970s, filmmakers had more control over the production process while studios focused on distribution.
“Whether it’s the studios or the streaming services, things have gone the other way, and now the latest chapter is the arrival of Silicon Valley, which is streamlining and taking over what we thought was a big industry,” Douglas said.
“Between Apple, Amazon and Netflix, their companies’ designs are huge and they can afford it,” he added.
In a wide-ranging conversation that focused primarily on his early achievements, Douglas recalled how difficult it was to be a Hollywood actor in the shadow of his father, Kirk Douglas.
Although he is indeed a “Hollywood Nippo Baby,” he doesn’t like being called a “Hollywood Nippo Baby” because of the criticism a celebrity’s fame and fortune can bring against family support in the cutthroat entertainment industry. More and more.
“I don’t know a father who wouldn’t try hard to help his son join him, no matter what his trade, whether it’s a plumber, a contractor or a carpenter,” Douglas told the audience in Jeddah. “I’m a Nebo baby too, you know what? ? So that’s what happened,” he added.
Douglas, who overcame his early reluctance to follow his father into show business, recalls how Kirk helped him executive produce Milos Forman’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The film eventually went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and bring in huge amounts of money for Kirk.
In 1962, Kirk acquired the rights to adapt the Broadway stage play and film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestMichael had to convince him to allow him to make a film adaptation. “I kind of impulsively said, ‘Let me go ahead,'” Douglas recalled, and his father nodded.
Returning to acting, Douglas came to prominence in the late 1980s with roles in hit films such as fatal attraction and wall streetlater starring in the 1992 drama Basic instinct. Douglas revealed that becoming an actor and Oscar winner required him to overcome early stage fright.
“When you start a project, there’s an element of risk that also makes you nervous. But nervousness is just part of your career, your job,” he explains. In August 2010, Douglas revealed that he had a throat tumor that required treatment.
After recovering, “Now, I’m living a very happy life. I’m not retiring,” Douglas insists. His recent roles have taken him into new genres, including Netlfix’s Kominsky method and benjamin franklin TV miniseries.
he did it Ant-Man and the Wasp It was Douglas’s first time to enter the field of green screen performance. “I still need to find a horror movie,” he added.
Douglas’ wife Catherine Zeta-Jones also gave a similarly wide-ranging talk at the Saudi Arabian Music Festival, in which she spoke of her endorsement of Douglas chicagotheater background and next step into the independent film world. “I want to show up. I want to do some interesting work,” she said of her next project. “It goes back to my dramatic mindset because I feel like I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I don’t need to work hard for other people.
The Red Sea Film Festival runs until December 14th.
