Douglas plays the famous founding father as a swaggering 18th-century rock star in "Franklin," evoking a touch of Gordon Gekko.
BY SIRAJ April -07-2024
In the city of Angels— A subdued roar emanates from the gathering in the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel on a chilly Saturday afternoon in March. The restaurant was once a symbol of the pinnacle of Hollywood opulence and sophistication when Kirk Douglas was a star; today, it’s just a place for visitors to take selfies and locals to get wild with their cocktails during lunch.
However, the glitz is momentarily revived as Michael Douglas enters the room. Not only does Douglas bring a connection to the Lounge’s most legendary past as Kirk’s son, but he is also a genuine star in his own right, which causes faces to light up with warm, welcoming smiles. it’s for all those years that Michael Douglas has been That Guy, personifying a specific type of White masculinity that emerged in the late 20th century.
At his peak, Douglas embodied and reflected the cardinal forces influencing American society, such as postfeminist manhood, 1980s avarice, nuclear meltdown fears, and his generation’s transgressive desires, romantic ambitions, and rapacious ambitions. Douglas seemed remarkably attuned even in the 2000 film “Wonder Boys,” in which he played a pot-smoking, bathrobe-wearing college professor. In this role, he portrayed the panic felt by millions of baby boomers who had just realized they were entering middle age, not to mention on the cusp of leaving it.
Sitting comfortably in a seat, ordering a cup of peppermint tea, 79-year-old Douglas doesn’t appear to be a cultural bellwether. Douglas has long found amusement in the idea that he looks more like Hollywood royalty, what with his now-white hair as perfect as his blue sport coat. Although he has spent some time in Los Angeles, his upbringing was in New York and Connecticut, and he attended Santa Barbara State University. Now that he is married to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, they mostly reside in New York’s Westchester County. Douglas states, “It’s just hard to get away from it when you’re here,” in reference to the incessant shoptalk typical of a company town. “Every meal of the day is here. And I love having friends from many walks of life, not just the entertainment industry.
Douglas may not have a permanent residence in Los Angeles, but he certainly feels at home there. Earlier in the day, he was spotted having a cordial conversation with Emmy voters from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, who had gone to see the premiere of “Franklin,” in which Douglas portrays Benjamin Franklin, a founding father. On April 12, the eight-hour series will premiere on Apple TV Plus. Much to the actor’s relief, the audience went wild for the scene in which Franklin travels to France in 1776 to convince King Louis XVI to provide financial and military aid to the American Revolution.
As Franklin, Douglas plays him during his nine-year stay in France, when he developed his own style of persuasive diplomacy. “I dealt with doubt all the way through most of the production,” he acknowledges. Doug Douglas and Tim Van Patten, who directed the series, debated whether to use elaborate prosthetics and makeup to achieve Franklin’s unique appearance, particularly his infamously high forehead, but ultimately opted for a more realistic approach. While Douglas’s character in “Franklin” doesn’t wear a wig or powdered makeup, he does wear gray, wavy hairpieces and extensions. Instead of someone attempting to pull off a Benjamin Franklin impression, he resembles Michael Douglas.
“I thought the audience would be more comfortable if they knew the character…. Instead of going through “eight hours of the complete Ben Franklin covering up Michael,” Douglas explains. It simply liberated me to a greater extent. A risk was still involved, he notes, asking, “Can I give the persona of Franklin?”
As preview viewers take in “Franklin” and come to terms with the ineffable merging of actor, character, and actual historical man, their anxieties seem to be fading. “Embraces Franklin’s spirit in many ways,” Van Patten remarked during a post-screening Q&A, with reference to Douglas. “Franklin is really bright, personable, inquisitive, and brimming with insight and humor. And Michael is that?
