The Oscars snub that enraged Michael Douglas: “I thought it was a fucking disgrace”
Nobody would argue that Michael Douglas isn’t a great actor. He has shown himself incredibly capable at almost every aspect of the game. He is just as comfortable in a serious drama like The Game or Traffic as he is in a comedy like War of the Roses. He’s been an action star, the vehicle for a biopic, and countless other things besides. He’s even been a superhero, playing the legendary Hank Pym in the ‘Ant-Man’ branch of the MCU.
If you want further proof that Michael is just as capable as his father Kirk, then you simply have to check his trophy cabinet. Douglas has amassed plenty of awards across his lengthy career, including two Oscars. He won his first in 1976, though not for the reason you might expect. As a producer on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, he was entitled to the statuette when it scooped that year’s ‘Best Picture’ award. 12 years later, he won the award for ‘Best Actor’ for his role in Wall Street.
Most actors would be pretty content with one Oscar, let alone two. Douglas, on the other hand, feels like he was owed at least one more. Speaking to Total Film, the icon was asked what the biggest disappointment of his career was. He responded by talking about Wonder Boys, a 2000 comedy-drama that he feels like was underserved.
“I loved the movie, it had a fantastic screenplay and a great cast and we didn’t even get critically acknowledged as far as awards go. I thought it was a fucking disgrace,” he explained. “I’ll be honest – it really hurt my confidence. It was a punch in the gut. In fact, it was my father who helped me through it. His favourite movie is Lonely Are the Brave. Nobody saw that when it came out, nobody’s seen it since. My father’s disappointment in that movie helped me get over mine with Wonder Boys.”
The movie, which was directed by Curtis Hanson, stars Douglas as a middle-aged author who hasn’t had a hit in years. He grows close with a young prodigy named James (Tobey Maguire), which ends up having negative consequences on his self-confidence. The movie scored well amongst critics and Douglas was nominated for both a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for his role, but was left out of the Oscars. The film itself was nominated for three Academy Awards, with Bob Dylan winning ‘Best Original Song’ for his track ‘Things Have Changed’.
Lonely Are the Brave was regularly cited by Michael’s father as his favourite of his own movies. Released in 1962, it stars Kirk as a nomadic cowboy who gets himself arrested in order to break a friend out of prison. The movie was a major hit and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Westerns ever made. Even so, it was totally snubbed at that year’s Oscars, with Douglas only scoring a BAFTA nomination for his work.
Winning awards is nice and all, but it shouldn’t be the be-all and end-all of an actor’s career. Both Douglas boys might have been disappointed when their chosen films were snubbed, but they are both still talked about with great reverence and beloved by a huge audience. Still, another Oscar would have been nice…
