Michael Douglas, 80, Shares Reasons for Stepping Away from Acting

Michael Douglas said that he had ‘no real intentions’ of acting again and explained why he has been on an indefinite hiatus.

The silver screen legend, 80, said that he decided to stop acting during a press conference at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

‘I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop,’ he said before explaining that he wanted to enjoy time off after his decades-spanning career — shortly after he spent time in Menorca with his 22-year-old daughter Carys.

‘I had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set,’ the two-time Oscar winner explained, per Variety.

He later emphasized that he does not consider himself officially retired because he would be open to returning to Hollywood if the right opportunity came along. 

‘I have no real intentions of going back. I say I’m not retired because if something special came up, I’d go back, but otherwise, no,’ he said before later joking about the only role he is ‘happy’ to play nowadays.

Michael Douglas said that he had ‘no real intentions’ of acting again and explained why he has been on an indefinite hiatus

He said that he is ‘happy to play the wife’ to his wife of nearly 25 years, Catherine Zeta-Jones, ‘in the spirit of maintaining a good marriage.’ 

The actor is widely recognized for his iconic portrayal of Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street, for which he also won an Academy Award.

Douglas said that he has ‘one little independent movie’ he is currently working on trying to ‘get a good script out of’ but otherwise has no projects going on in Hollywood. 

Douglas was in attendance at the film festival to introduce the screening of a newly restored version of Miloš Forman’s 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest starring Jack Nicholson. 

During his introduction, he was surprised with a Crystal Globe statuette from the festival’s executive director. 

Back in May, Douglas told Deadline that he was ‘enjoying’ his break from acting as he continued to focus on his personal life as well as producing movies. 

He founded an indie production company Further Films in 1997. 

‘It was overwhelming running the production company and acting at the same time,’ he told the outlet earlier this year. 

He explained that he wanted to enjoy time off after his decades-spanning career.The actor is widely recognized for his iconic portrayal of Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film Wall Street, for which he also won an Academy Award

He later emphasized that he does not consider himself officially retired because he would be open to returning to Hollywood if the right opportunity came along; pictured Juen in Taormina

He said that he is ‘happy to play the wife’ to his wife of nearly 25 years, Catherine Zeta-Jones, ‘in the spirit of maintaining a good marriage; pictured December 2024 in Jeddah

When asked about his potential return to the screen, he said: ‘If something good comes up that I really like. But I don’t feel a burning desire.’ 

He added, ‘I’m still producing. I still love bringing people together.’ 

Meanwhile, his 24-year-old son Dylan Douglas is set to make his acting debut in the upcoming thriller I Will Come to You, Variety reported in March. 

Douglas shares Dylan along with his 22-year-old daughter Carys with Zeta-Jones, whom he married in 2000. 

He is also father to son Cameron Douglas, 46, whom he shares with his ex-wife Diandra Luker.