Michael Douglas says his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones is still working through his tell-all memoir.
The “Wall Street” star, 82, revealed in an interview Wednesday that Zeta-Jones, 57, has not yet finished “One Helluva Ride.” Douglas explained she had been away filming the third season of “Wednesday” and is now “in the midst of it right now,” He added that he has already spoken with her about the book’s contents and hopes she will be “very understanding.”
Douglas, who has been married to Zeta-Jones since November 2000, was candid about one particular concern. “She was a wee little girl in that part,” he told the outlet, referring to the era of his life detailed in the memoir when he was involved with other women.
Despite those worries, Douglas insisted he harbors “no regrets” about the level of disclosure in the book. “I’m happy I got it out there,” he said.
The memoir pulls few punches in chronicling Douglas’s past. He writes about affairs with Kathleen Turner during the filming of “Romancing the Stone” and Jeanne Tripplehorn during “Basic Instinct.” He also addresses his own struggles with cocaine and alcohol, which led to rehab, and his son Cameron’s addiction battles, which resulted in a seven-year prison sentence.
Douglas said that cocaine use was “rampant” in Hollywood during the 1970s and 1980s. “I didn’t have to [include it],” he said of his own drug use, “but I was just sharing my experience.”
The Oscar winner framed that section as a cautionary note rather than mere confession. “Having a little age behind me and looking back at it and realizing it was a really ridiculous drug and consumed a lot of people, my son included and a lot of others,” he continued, calling the revelation his “little beware tale.”
Through the unflinching material, Douglas maintained warm words for his wife of nearly 26 years. He called Zeta-Jones his “soul mate” and praised her personal qualities at length. “We’re in our 26th year and I enjoy her company very much,” he gushed. “She’s so talented and funny.”
The couple shares two children: son Dylan, 26, and daughter Carys, 23. Douglas summed up his admiration simply: “She’s a good lady, a good lady.”
The book represents a significant departure from Douglas’s typically private public persona, covering decades of relationships, substance abuse, and family turmoil that occurred well before he met Zeta-Jones in 1998 at the Deauville Film Festival. They married two years later.