The Not-So-Rough Cut - Kirk Douglas - Brief Article

Interview, Jan, 2000

KD: That shows what a good actor I am. [laughs] When I came to Hollywood, I was afraid a lot of the time, but I did what I had to do because I had to. Otherwise, with my beginnings, I might have ended up in jail or something.

GF: You also talked about being a sinner in that book, but I couldn't quite tell whether you were serious or joking.

KD: Both. We are all sinners, but God always gives us a second chance. I'm a sinner who's trying to overcome my sins and be a better person. I don't like goody-goodies. If I thought a man never committed a sin in his life, I don't think I'd want to talk to him.

GF: So when you rediscovered your Judaism again, you didn't go on a binge of repentance?

KD: No. I think all my life is a part of making me what I am, you know? Sure, I look back and say maybe I was too self-centered. I made one movie after another and that's a form of narcissism.

GF: You include the David and Goliath story in your new book. Who or what would you say was the greatest Goliath you had to overcome in your life?

KD: Poverty. I've always told my four sons that they didn't have my advantages because I was born in poverty and had nowhere to go but up. That's why I'm so proud of my sons, especially Michael. I think he has achieved much more than I have. And I feel I have done a lot--I don't want you to accuse me of modesty.

GF: The subject of fathers and sons and the gulfs between them is central to Diamonds. I assume you've had times when you've had to work hard on your relationships with your sons?

KD: Of course. I was divorced from their mother. Fortunately, I had a good relationship with my ex-wife and her husband, who died a few years ago. Michael and I were not always that close. For years there was a certain distance between us, but in the last ten years we have gotten very close, maybe because he's older and has a son himself.

GF: You and he have never worked together as adults....

KD: We had been talking about doing a picture together before I had my stroke. After I had it, he said, "You keep working on your facial exercises and we'll do the movie together." And I said, "No, Michael. You go to my speech therapist and when you learn to talk the way I do, then we'll do the movie." [laughs]

GF: Fathers and sons in this culture have such difficulty expressing their love for each other, don't they?

KD: When I kiss my sons on the mouth, people are sometimes afraid of this affection, this closeness. They look at closeness as a weakness when it should be very gratifying. When a boy is young, he likes physical contact with his father as well as his mother. I think that need is always there and you must express it. As you get more and more secure as a person, it's easier to follow those sorts of instincts.

GF: Were you happy with your performance In Diamonds?

KD: I thought I was very good. [GF laughs] People ask me that and then they laugh like you laughed. But I give myself a pat on the back because when I went into it I had such trepidation. Would I be able to have the same stamina? Would they understand me? And the more I worked, the more confident I became. This is my eighty-third picture and I am eighty-three years old, but to me it was like starting a new career.