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Michael Douglas returns to low-budget roots
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Michael
Douglas returns to theaters on Friday in First Look Studios' limited
release "King of California." He plays Charlie, the bipolar father
to Evan Rachel Wood's Miranda, who decides that a hidden cache of
gold is buried under a Costco.THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: (WITH A BUDGET
OF $5 MILLION TO $8
MILLION), "KING OF CALIFORNIA" WAS MADE FOR ROUGHLY THE
EQUIVALENT OF WHAT YOU EARNED FOR 2000'S "TRAFFIC." SO WHAT WAS
THAT LIKE, WORKING ON AN SMALL-BUDGET INDIE, FOR YOU?
MICHAEL DOUGLAS: I'm originally out of television. I did "(The)
Streets of San Francisco" (1972-77), so we were on location six days
a week. You basically shot a 52-minute movie in seven days. So I
have that background, and in a lot of ways a tighter budget, a
tighter schedule, frees you up because you have to go back to
trusting your instincts.
Having said that, as a producer and when I'm acting I always take a
few days with the director before we shoot and walk through the
picture together so that we're all on the same path. On a schedule
like this -- or even most pictures -- a director has so much to do
there's not a lot of time for discussion; so I try to get all of
that resolved beforehand, try and figure out what the highs and lows
are and what the pace is going to be and then it takes on a life of
its own.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: HOW CALCULATING ARE YOU IN TERMS OF
SELECTING PROJECTS?
DOUGLAS: Not too much. It's all emotional for me -- it's reading
initially and being moved. Then I analyze the structure and see if I
can close my eyes and picture the movie, make sure I wasn't seduced
by the written words. And then I'm pretty clinical about it. I'm
getting more savvy in my old age about who I'm working with; I
certainly understand more and more (that actors and directors)
working together again and again saves so much small talk. I do my
homework about the people involved; I don't like conflict.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: YOU HAVE A FACILITY FOR BOTH COMEDY
AND DRAMA. AT HEART, WHICH DO YOU PREFER?
DOUGLAS: Drama is always easiest -- that's why we cherish our
friends who are funny. I never understood why our comedians are not
acknowledged -- especially at Oscar time. I love the opportunity
when I can do these tragicomedies or mixed films. I love pictures
like that in general that are unpredictable -- "War of the Roses"
(1989), "Romancing the Stone" (1984) kinds of action thrillers that
have some humor, and I'm proud of the fact that you can go from one
genre to the other, but it's not one that comes naturally to me. |
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