By María Estévez, MWN
One of our favorite couples, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, come back to the screen playing ex-husband and wife in the third season of ‘The Kominsky Method.’ The two actors were the stars of the 80s thanks to their team-ups in ‘Romancing the Stone,’ ‘The Jewel of the Nile’ and ‘The War of the Roses.’
The last six episodes of the dramedy streaming series, however, will not see Sandy Kominsky’s dear friend and agent Norman Newlander (Alan Arkin). Sandy will have to navigate what aging looks like without his longtime friend and, at the same time, deal as well with the arrival of his ex Roz Volander, played by Turner. The pair’s famously volatile relationship is further inflamed when she comes to LA to spend time with their daughter Mindy (Sarah Baker) and her boyfriend Martin (Paul Reiser).
Metro talks with Michael Douglas about the new season, his career and off-screen life.
Netflix seems to have found a niche for baby boomers shows.
Exactly. I think there is a necessity for the authentic representation of older characters in television and films. It’s been a deprived audience for a long time. There’s a big audience out there for it and it’s good to think of it as funny rather than tragic. I am getting more attention from this show from younger audiences than Marvel movies. Even my kids like it. And they don’t like anything I do.
What is your main goal now?
To be healthy. Sometimes people spend more time being nice to strangers than to people who are close to them. We make efforts with people we don’t know. When you have a good relationship it’s something you have to protect and nurture rather than regret. The quality of your life, your work, your relationship…
How often do you watch yourself on the screen?
When you get older, you get calmer. I think I look more like my father. It’s much more fun now than it was before. Ambitions sort of died, you have a chance to enjoy.
So, you feel less ambitious now?
Just career-wise. You make your priorities. Earlier in my life, I would say that career was first and family was second. I don’t believe that you can balance the two. I don’t think there’s a way. When you’ve had enough experience to know when it’s a good family, a good marriage, and you’re having children at my age then you better enjoy them. It was a good time, I got back to work but I have other priorities.
What makes your work fun?
It depends. You have your possibilities. It gives you the chance to keep developing characters. I love acting but also doing other stuff. When you read something good, you get the opportunity to develop the project that you like. And as a producer, I try to find projects that make me enthusiastic.
What is the secret of a successful project?
It’s always been the script. What I think makes a good movie is a good structure, whether it scares you or it is exciting… You kind of look at it and see that the structure works, then you execute it to the best of your abilities. You expand a situation, you see the center come to life. Sometimes people lose the sense of what happens unless you got a very good cast and a very good movie. Sometimes actors see a good part and they just tend to forget the story. There’s been a lot of good parts that no one has ever seen in lousy movies.
Season 3 of ‘The Kominsky Method’ hits Netflix on May 28.
