Interview: Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas’s portrayal of Liberace wowed Cannes and the actor is thanking his lucky stars he’s beaten cancer. He spoke to Shereen Low.
Michael Douglas as Liberace and below with Matt DamonMichael Douglas as Liberace and below with Matt Damon
Michael Douglas as Liberace and below with Matt Damon

Many actors dream of making a glittering return, after being away from the screen for a few years.

For Michael Douglas, his post-cancer comeback has fully arrived playing Wladziu Valentino Liberace – better known simply as Liberace – in Steven Soderbergh’s feature-length biopic, Behind The Candelabra.

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The two-time Oscar-winning actor has already been praised by critics for his mesmerising performance, following its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month.

“For me this has...,” starts the 68-year-old before pausing, overcome with emotion. “Because it was right after my cancer this beautiful gift was handed to me, I’m eternally grateful to Steven, Matt [Damon], Jerry [Weintraub, producer] and everybody for waiting for me.”

Douglas was diagnosed with life-threatening throat cancer in August 2010, and revealed he was clear of the disease in January 2011. Playing Liberace is his first major role since his recovery.

The star, talking from Cannes, says beating the big C has given him a new lease of life, saying: “Cancer does give you a new rejuvenation. I know what it’s like to be down. I was stage four, and there is no stage five.”

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The idea of the Wall Street star portraying the flamboyant showman was first mooted more than a decade ago, when he appeared in Traffic, also directed by Soderbergh.“I thought he was messing with me,” admits Douglas, who has been acting for more than 40 years and lives in New York with second wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their children, Dylan and Carys.

“I was playing the drugs czar in Traffic and I saw this pensive look on Steven’s face and he said, ‘Have you ever thought of Liberace?’ And I said, ‘What does that have to do with this?’ Steven remembers I tried to do an impression of Liberace saying ‘Thank you very much’ and then forgot about it.”

While Douglas, best known for his roles in Romancing The Stone, Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct, as well as Wall Street, put thoughts of Liberace away, Soderbergh did not. He continued trying to secure funding to develop the film, which is based on Behind The Candelabra: My Life With Liberace, the memoirs of his former chauffeur and lover Scott Thorson (played by Damon).

The highest-paid entertainer in the world from the 1950s to 1970s, Liberace – known as Lee to friends – was four years old when he learnt to play the piano. He made his concert debut at 20 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and soon rose to global success.

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“He had a very savvy sense of showmanship. Everybody said he was a wonderful host, very generous, gracious, loved,” says Douglas.

“Besides all his popularity in Las Vegas, the television show The Liberace Show made him well-known to everybody in the world. And with that camp style, there was a genuine quality – about him, his performances and how happy he wanted to make people – that won everyone over.”

Behind The Candelabra exposes the troubled person behind the bouffant hairstyles and flamboyant fashions, and his secret love affair with Thorson. It traces the pair’s relationship from their first meeting in 1977 to Liberace’s deathbed in 1987, when the entertainer, who publicly denied being gay and sued those who claimed he was, tried to keep his HIV status secret.

Douglas admits he had initial nerves about stepping into the showman’s shoes, a role which is worlds apart from Wall Street financier Gordon Gekko. “This is the first time I played a character that people knew. I had a lot of trepidation,” he says. But adds: “One of the things I enjoyed about this part was I got to smile. I don’t smile a lot in my pictures. My career has been more in the grey, if not the dark, area.”

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He has compliments for co-star Damon: “I was in awe of Matt’s courage. It’s one thing for me at my age to stretch a little bit and try different characters. But a man in the prime of his career going this route? Plus, he has to wear a white sequinned thong! That takes real guts.” Their love scenes didn’t pose an issue, either. “Knowing Matt already, you never have to go through that formal dance of introductions. We both read the script so we skipped to what flavour lip balm we had to use,” he jokes.

Douglas has more projects in the pipeline, including comedy Last Vegas and Mike Newell’s drama Reykjavik. But he won’t be forgetting Liberace in a hurry. “It was really a treat to have the chance to play this part,” he says. “I’m starting over. What I went through with Liberace has given me the confidence for this next step.”

Behind the Candelabra is out in cinemas today.

Extra Time – Michael Douglas

Michael Kirk Douglas was born on September 25, 1944, in New Jersey.

His first significant role was in US TV cop series The Streets Of San Francisco, 
but he found fame after starring in 1984’s Romancing The Stone.

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He has won two Oscars – for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which he produced, and for his portrayal of Gordon Gekko in 1988’s Wall Street.

He married Catherine Zeta Jones, whom he shares the 
same birthday with, in November 2000. On their 
first meeting, he reportedly told her: “I want to father your children”.