Michael Douglas on struggle to shake off ‘TV star' image

(Alhamon)

Veteran actor Michael Douglas, who recently published his memoir, ‘One Helluva Ride,' looked back on his years in the entertainment industry. While giving an interview recently, the actor talked about his career and opened up about how it took him a long time to get to his position and how he had to prove himself in the industry, despite the fact that he had already established his footing in the market.

Michael Douglas on how he was only seen as a TV actor

Douglas’ success had started off with role in successful TV shows. While talking to GQ, Douglas commented that there were a lot of moments when he was venturing into films where directors would not take him seriously and would often limit him to ‘just’ being a TV actor.Despite his shows having high ratings and viewership, and with him being an Oscar-winning producer, many people still refused to see him beyond that image.

Recalling one incident, he opened up about how he faced quite some issues before being cast in ‘Romancing the Stone’. He shared, “I had done four seasons on Streets of San Francisco, which was a big television hit.” He added that screenwriter Diane Thomas, who had been working as a waitress at the time, had brought him the script for ‘Romancing the Stone,' and he recalled that while reading it he believed that the movie was "just magical.

” Douglas continued, "It was a romantic adventure comedy with action, almost a mix that was very hard to come by.”Douglas revealed that he never had himself set for the main role of Jack, commenting, “I tried to get a couple of the big actors to do it.” However, almost everyone turned the project down. “The big issue, I guess, of making it was so funny that I’m an Academy Award-winning producer, but as an actor, I was a television actor trying to make the move into feature films.

So there were a lot of studios that did not approve me as an actor," he stated.Even after he suggested that he could play the lead, the casting team went with Jeff Bridges, who is best known for his work in ‘True Grit’ and ‘Tron’. However, due to some circumstances, they ended up casting Douglas, and upon its release, the film was a massive hit amongst the masses. According to Box Office Mojo, the film made USD 115 million at the box office.Douglas left the hit TV show ‘Streets of San Francisco’ in its fifth season to produce ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,' which scored him an Oscar for Best Picture. Before scoring ‘Romancing the Stone,' he also produced ‘The China Syndrome’ in 1979. As of right now, the actor has more than 20 producer and executive producer credits on his portfolio.