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

Interview, Jan, 2000

GF: You show all the old fire.

KD: Well, I liked playing this feisty guy who used to be a boxer and still has that fight in him.

GF: It starts with shots of you In Champion [1949]. How did you feel about seeing that footage again?

KD: In general, I never look back. I plan always to look ahead. But I'll tell you, it -was very nostalgic because Champion was the picture that made me a star. My agents fought for me not to do it because they wanted me to be in this big all-star production called The Great Sinner [1949] with Ava Gardner. They thought I was crazy to do this little picture, but it was a very exciting script.

GF: As you've gotten older, Is it tough to look back and remember how virile and how strong you were at thirty, say, when you played all those arrogant, cocky guys?

KD: That's life. I still feel-strong and virile. When I played those men, I didn't have the spiritual strength that I have now. Whatever stage you are af in life, you should embrace it and try to be a better person. You have to love yourself and respect yourself and then offer that respect and love to others.

GF: Many of the men you played were maimed in some way. In Man Without a Star [1955] your chest is lacerated by barbed wire. You were crucified in Spartacus [1960], lost an eye in The Vikings [1958], an ear in Lust for Life [1956]--

KD: A finger in The Big Sky [1952].

GF: It's as if the characters you chose were men who tried to go against God.

KD: I've thought about this. How many times was I shot and killed in the movies? Some actors don't like to die. Very often the movie dies, but they don't. But, yes, I have argued with God and gotten angry with God, and I think it's permissible to do that. The only thing that is not permissible is to ignore God. It must be something in my makeup that drove me to play those roles. I probably gravitated to the villain more than the hero because virtue is not photogenic. A man with flaws is more interesting.

GF: Is playing those roles cathartic?

KD: It maybe helps you get rid of some of the rage and hatred in you, qualities we all have.

GF: Does writing do that for you as well?

KD: Yes, in many ways. As a writer, I think I'm still an actor. I play the scene in my head and then start talking. Writing or acting, I always allow myself to be what I am. When my sons were growing up, they'd say, "Dad, how do you get a girl?" And I'd say, "Remember one thing: Just be yourself because what you are is the only thing that's unique, and if she doesn't like that then you haven't got a chance. if you're yourself you have a chance to be interesting."

GF: But that has to be learned.

KD: Because we don't trust ourselves, you know? But when you get to be eighty-three, you can say, "Fuck it. Just see me the way I am."

GF: Women have obviously meant a great deal to you through your life.

KD: Of course. I like women. Apart from their sexuality, women in general are very interesting. They are stronger than us; they have more intuitive sense. And I've known for some time that the feminine side of me gives me my creative side.