Michael Douglas got hit with harsh feedback from director Oliver Stone during the making of “Wall Street.”
“Okay, so we were finishing the second week of filming, and there was a knock on my door. ‘Hey Mike, it’s Oliver. Can I come in?’” Douglas, 81, recalled at the TCM Classic Film Festival in New York City last week, according to People.
“I say, ‘Yeah, come on in,’” Douglas continued. “He comes in the trailer and sits down. He says to me, ‘You okay?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m okay.’ [He asks], ‘Are you doing drugs?’ I said, ‘No, I’m not doing drugs.’ And he said, ‘Because you look like you’ve never acted before in your life.’”
Michael Douglas attends TCM Classic Film Festival in New York on January 31. Getty Images for TCM
Michael Douglas in “Wall Street.” 20th Century Fox Licensing/Merchandising / Everett Collection
Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas on the set of “Wall Street 2” in 2009. WireImage
Douglas, who played devious businessman Gordon Gekko in the 1987 film, explained that at the time he wouldn’t watch dallies, which are raw, unedited pieces of footage shot everyday.
“So I said, ‘Well, I don’t like to look at the dailies because I’m one of those guys that always sees what’s wrong or what’s not going to be in the film’… so I don’t pay attention to the dailies,” Douglas recalled telling Stone, 79. “So I said, ‘I guess I’d better take a look,’ and he said, ‘Yeah, you better.’”
Douglas said he went into the editing room and analyzed two scenes, one of which was his limo scene with Charlie Sheen.
“And I’m looking at them really hard, and critically, and they seemed pretty good,” he remembered. “So I keep saying, ‘I think it’s pretty good,’ and [Stone said], ‘Yeah, it is, isn’t it.’”
Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen in “Wall Street.” ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Michael Douglas speaks onstage at the TCM Classic Film Festival on Jan. 31. Getty Images for TCM
Stone’s advice, Douglas said, helped the actor tap into Gekko’s “nastiness,” “vengeance” and “meanness” for the performance.
“He was willing for me to hate his guts for the rest of this movie to get that extra little push,” Douglas explained.
The “Fatal Attraction” star also noted that Stone has helped “push” other actors to give “their best performance,” such as James Woods in “Salvador,” Tom Cruise in “Born on the Fourth of July” and Kevin Costner in “JFK.”
“His record of successes with actors is quite impressive,” Douglas said of the filmmaker. “So I’m deeply, deeply appreciative of the fact that it gave me part and the fact that he pushed me to another level.”
Michael Douglas in “Wall Street.” ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Oliver Stone and Michael Douglas at the photocall for “Wall Street 2” during the 63rd Cannes International Film Festival. Corbis via Getty Images
Douglas’ role in “Wall Street” won him the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1988.
The success of the film led Douglas and Stone to reunite for a sequel, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which was released in 2010.