The biggest acting lessons Michael Douglas learned from his father
Michael Douglas boasts an impressive catalogue of recognisable works that firmly establish him as one of the most well-known actors and producers of his generation. His distinguished career is backed by two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy, underscoring his significant impact on the industry.
Despite this storied history and clear talent for the trade, Douglas has spoken candidly about his roots as an actor and the ways in which the people around him have influenced him in his life. Most notably, he’s been open about how his father, the legendary Kirk Douglas, informed and guided him at the very start of his career and set him up to create his own legacy.
Being a second-generation performer always comes with added pressure and expectation, though, especially when the first wave was so successful. Beyond having an icon of Hollywood’s ‘Golden Age’ for an old man, his mother, Diana, enjoyed a prolific career of her own that lasted more than half a century.
There are obvious benefits of having someone like Kirk to rely on for advice and life lessons, something Douglas wasn’t going to pass up, even when he was so determined to make it on his own. During an interview with Film Scouts, he cited that “what I learned most was stamina and tenacity” before outlining the inherent difficulty of building a name for yourself out of the reach of a successful parent.
While struggling to establish himself as his own actor, Douglas admitted that “early in my career, I played sensitive young man parts, because that was not what my father played”. In an attempt to diversify himself from his father’s legacy and not become the same type of star, he specifically went out and avoided the places that his father trod before him.
His father was an actor and producer, much like his son became, which allowed Douglas to pick up the intricacies of “being on set and watching the process”, which gave him first-hand insight into how much hard work it took to build a project from the ground up on either side of the camera. He may not have wanted to be just like his father, but history shows they had plenty in common.
Speaking more broadly, he reflected on another pearl of wisdom he picked up from his dad. “As an actor, you also need the ability to listen,” he mused. “Really good actors are great listeners.” That’s especially true for one who also produces, and not always, the films they star in, either.
It was a common road walked by Kirk and Michael, who ended up doing the exact opposite of what he’d initially planned. The latter grew up planning on branching out and escaping from his father’s shadow as quickly as possible, only to end up doing almost exactly the same thing. On the plus side, at least his wisdom and advice came in handy, even if it was handier than he’d intended.
