In an interview with The Sunday Times, while promoting his memoir "One Helluva Ride," Michael Douglas, the 82-year-old two-time Oscar winner, responded in detail for the first time in more than a decade to a question about his brief separation from Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2013. The journalist asked how he had "won back" his wife, and Douglas replied sharply: "What, I won her back? It was mutual."
The couple, who married in 2000, went through a split after 13 years of marriage — at the time, Catherine confirmed that they were "taking a pause to evaluate and work on the relationship." Douglas said at the time to People that "they are working on it, talking." They reunited quickly, and by 2015 he was already talking about it on Ellen DeGeneres's show, stressing that "marriage is not a one-way street."
Now, against the backdrop of the release of a book in which Douglas confesses to a long-ago affair with Kathleen Turner and other episodes of his personal life, the question about "winning over his wife" sounded especially pointed. The actor clarified: "We went through problems, but I love her very much, and 25 years is, you know… Marriage is a lot of work. We're in good shape. That's all I can say."
Why now? The book comes out on Tuesday, and the interview serves as the perfect platform to remind the public that, despite the revelations about the past, the current marriage is strong. Douglas added that Catherine has not yet read the book, and that he himself "never lost hope for reconciliation." In the public sphere, where the personal lives of stars "tend to get more publicity," such statements work as reputation insurance.
For the 82-year-old actor, whose children — Dylan and Carys — are already trying their hand at film themselves, this is a moment of taking stock. He speaks of mutual effort, not of one "winning" over the other. Zeta-Jones, who is 57, published a touching post last year for their 25th wedding anniversary, confirming that the feelings remain the same.
The separation of 2013, which occurred against the backdrop of Douglas's battle with cancer, long ago became part of their story. Now, as the memoir reveals other chapters, Douglas himself sets the emphases: there were problems, but they overcame them together. The question of how Catherine will react to the book remains open — and that is precisely what gives the whole story a lively, human touch.
