Michael Douglas says he’s stepping back from acting after six decades in Hollywood.
The two-time Oscar winner, 80, said during a recent press conference at the Czech Karlovy Vary International Film Festival that he has “no real intentions” to ever appear on screen in another acting role.
“I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop,” said Douglas, who was at the festival to present a newly restored print of Miloš Forman’s 1975 drama “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
“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,” Douglas continued, noting that he was “very happy” to have the time off.
“I say I’m not retired because if something special came up, I’d go back, but otherwise, I’m quite happy, just like to watch my wife work,” he said of his longtime love, Catherine Zeta-Jones, 55.
Douglas’ recent credits include the 2023 Marvel movie “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and the 2024 miniseries “Franklin.”
During the press conference, Douglas, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010, also opened up about his treatment.
“Stage 4 cancer is not a holiday, but there’s not many choices, are there?” he said. “So I went with the program involving chemo and radiation and was fortunate.”
Douglas said surgical treatment “would have caused me to not be able to speak, to talk” and would have required “removing” part of his jaw.
“It would have been limiting as an actor,” he told reporters. “So I was happy about that, I made a recovery.”
Douglas and Zeta-Jones tied the knot in 2000 and share two children: Dylan, who turns 25 in August, and Carys, 22. Douglas is also dad to actor Cameron Douglas, 46, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Diandra Luker.
During a visit to TODAY in 2021, the “Wall Street” star revealed that he and Zeta-Jones began a new chapter in their marriage after their daughter graduated from high school.
“It’s scary. It really is. You look at each other and go, ‘Well, it’s just you and me, babe,’” he joked.
“You forget how many conversations you sort of hide behind, in terms of talking about your kids and what’s going on next, and then one day, you just look at each other,” he continued. “But we’re 20 years now, so all those good years of paying attention to each other are paying off now.”
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