Q 13

PLAYBOY: How does working with a female director differ from working with a male director?

Michael Douglas: I loved working with Claudia Weill. Almost every guy will tell you there comes a moment when the director takes the leading lady, grabs her by the shoulders, takes her for a walk and says, "Honey, what's bothering you?" In other words, she gets pampered. Most guys would tell you they would like to be treated like that. Well, during It's My Turn, I got asked what was bothering me all the time, and I loved it.

Q 14

PLAYBOY: You live in California, the home of hot tubs and hard drugs. You read that Government officials are accused of using cocaine. Does the idea that politicians--even young ones, who are, like you, products of the Sixties--indulge in cocaine bother you?

Michael Douglas: In cocaine? Yeah. It's not the kind of drug I would like to see any major judgment calls made on. In a time of crisis, I definitely do not want to think that the President is snorting anything while making decisions that affect my life. On the other hand, I also don't understand the publicity that this gossip generates.

Q 15

PLAYBOY: Last year, we saw a rash of male-bonding films--all about men finding themselves through sports or war. Why is the movie industry--or, perhaps, American audiences--so obsessed with the themes of male bonding and fraternity?

Michael Douglas: : I once heard someone say that the one thing men and women have in common is that they both like the company of men. I think that is true.

Q 16

PLAYBOY: After finishing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, you spent a year just kicking around, hanging out. You've described it, basically, as a year of debauching--a year in which you and Jack Nicholson went everywhere and did most everything to excess. Would you recommend that experience to all men?

Michael Douglas: Yeah, I'd recommend it. I think we all have to let loose once in a while. Men are under a lot of pressure. You can't, for instance, be a pig anymore--that's out. You have to struggle and work hard to be this gentle, balanced man, only to have women then find you boring. So it's confusing and debauchery can, at least, take your mind off things for a while. Now, I'm not promoting that life for a married man. But I waited a good long time before I got married. And with all the fun or good that debauchery seems to offer, it is also, when you're doing it, quite possibly one of the lowest times in your life. Well, you have to reach that point before you start pulling yourself around and up. But still, for a short period, I'd recommend a little debauchery.

Q 17

PLAYBOY: How did becoming a father change your life?

Michael Douglas: : I found out I enjoy responsibility. I'm a guy who ducked responsibility all my life; and now I'm finding that with a wife and a baby, I'm getting more work done than ever before. I've got a great fantasy life and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Families are real nice.

Q 18

PLAYBOY: You always make movies about women who work and have careers. Why doesn't your own wife work?

Michael Douglas: Well, she's raising a child right now and has been kind enough to address herself to my career right at this time. With my job, we travel a lot and have to go all over the place. So, if she were working, she couldn't travel with me. Right now, the kid is young enough not to be in school, so he can travel with us, too. But she speaks five languages and when I met her, she was studying to be in the diplomatic corps, so I'm sure she will be using that later on.

Q 19

PLAYBOY: Who are your heroes?

Michael Douglas: I like Johnny Carson a lot. I admire my father a lot. And I think Benji's pretty impressive, too.

Q 20

PLAYBOY: If your life were a country-and-western song, what would be its title?

Michael Douglas: Love Ain't Hard, It's Warm.