Michael Douglas can’t stand being called a “nepo baby”
Son of Kirk Douglas, the actor did not really appreciate the term used to describe children as stars who benefit from their parents’ networks.
Michael Douglas doesn’t want to hear about “nepo baby”.
Podcast guest SmartLess by Sean Hayes, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, the actor of Wall Street returned to his career and the famous debate around nepotism in Hollywood. And obviously, the subject seriously annoys him. Son of Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, Michael obviously recognizes being born into a family that opened certain doors for him. But he refuses to consider this privilege as a peculiarity specific to Hollywood:
“Well, first of all, you know, Hollywood is a monarchy. Finally… This “nepo” thing really annoys me! I don’t know of a single professional field where a father or mother does not try to help their son or daughter enter their field, in one way or another. So why are we focusing on this? Because these families are famous, right?“
A way of reminding us that the phenomenon does not only concern the children of stars, even if they are obviously much more visible.
Michael Douglas himself has become one of the most famous actors of his generation, notably Wall Street, Basic Instinct, The Game Or Trafficafter starting in the profession in the shadow of his father.
Kirk Douglas, who died in 2020 at the age of 103, was one of the great figures of Hollywood’s golden age. Star of Spartacus, Paths of Glory, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Or The Passionate Life of Vincent van Goghhe received three Oscar nominations before receiving an honorary Oscar in 1996.
Michael Douglas also benefited from his time in SmartLess to give advice to young actors who dream of success. According to him, the most important thing is knowing how to recognize a good script.
“The problem we all have is that we don’t play an instrument, we don’t paint, we don’t write. We’re just standing there. But good material, man, good material, it helps things move forward a lot…“
