You might say that Michael Douglas made a big mistake. Big. Huge.
In his revelatory new memoir “One Helluva Ride” (out now), the Oscar-winning Hollywood icon reveals he once burned a bridge with none other than Julia Roberts.
It was “a wildly embarrassing incident” that “stuck with me for years,” Douglas, 82, writes. In 1990, he produced the sci-fi horror movie “Flatliners,” which featured a star-studded cast including Roberts and her then-boyfriend, Kiefer Sutherland. Douglas struggled throughout his life with drugs and partying, which was only compounded when he was working behind the scenes.
“The thing is, when I am acting in front of the camera, I am so nervous that I wouldn’t dream of showing up loaded because it would make me paranoid,” Douglas
says. “Acting kept me in line and on my toes. But producing comes with a lot of wet lunches and not having to be ‘on’ for a whole set of cast and crew.”
His drinking eventually got him into trouble at Golden Globes party during production of “Flatliners." Douglas was there with his then-13-year-old son, Cameron, while Roberts brought Sutherland as her date.
“We were at the bar, and Julia had her arm around my son, kind of nuzzling him,” Douglas writes. “To me, in that moment, he looked stunned. … I was pretty drunk.
“I told her, ‘Take your hands off my son and take that Golden Globe and stick it where the sun don’t shine,’” Douglas continues. “The next morning, my producing partner Rick Bieber called me and said, ‘We need to talk, Michael.’ I’d crossed a line with the most in-demand young actress in Hollywood. I sent Julia roses with an apology for my behavior, and then back in the production office, I apologized to her and Kiefer in person.”
Fortunately, both Roberts and Sutherland “forgave me enough” to move past the tense encounter and finish filming “Flatliners.”
“I remained friends with Kiefer,” Douglas writes. “Julia, not so much.”
In another chapter of his memoir, Douglas says that Roberts was in the running shortly after for the Sharon Stone role in 1992’s “Basic Instinct.” The actress passed on the part, as did Meg Ryan, Michelle Pfeiffer, Demi Moore and Kathleen Turner.
In 1992, Douglas also went to rehab to address his substance abuse issues, in an effort to save his marriage with first wife Diandra Luker. The pair filed for divorce in 1995 and he has been married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones since 2000.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Douglas is still embarrassed by drunk clash with Julia Roberts
