If you need me to spell out in this introduction who Michael Douglas is, you’re probably on the wrong site, but I will hit a few highlights just as a refresher. First off, this interview was conducted as part of a group set visit to the set of ANT-MAN last October, and on the second day of our two-day visit, we visited a location set in Atlanta that was doubling for the headquarters of Pym Technologies, named after its founder Hank Pym (Douglas). As we’ll discover in ANT-MAN via flashback, when Pym was a younger man, he worked with SHIELD on technology that SHIELD tried to steal from him—specifically a little something called the Pym Particle, which gave its user the ability to shrink in order to infiltrate in the interest of intelligence gathering. In fact, the original Ant-Man was, in fact, Pym, who hung up the costume after a tragic event in his past.
When we sat down with Douglas, he was in the midst of shooting a sequence in which his former protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) is making a presentation about new technology he’s unveiling as the new head of Pym Tech—technology that may be an unstable version of the Pym Particle. As a result, Pym recruits master thief and a bit of a tech wiz himself, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), to break into Pym’s old lab and steal his Ant-Man suit to use to stop Cross.
Sitting across from Michael Douglas is essentially meeting Hollywood royalty, and I think in most of the journalists’ minds who were there that day, he was the person we most wanted to talk with, and he couldn’t have been more enjoyable. A fun bit of trivia I learned about Douglas: he’s only ever been nominated for an Oscar twice in his long career…and he won both times—once as a producer for 1975’s ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, and once for Best Supporting Actor for 1988’s WALL STREET. As in life, this guy is almost always a winner. So please enjoy this on-set interview with Michael Douglas. The first question has to do with a line we’ve heard Douglas deliver to an adversary (played by Martin Donovan) in the scene being shot: “How’s your face?”, which we take to mean that at their last meeting, Pym did some damage to said face. The question posed to Douglas first is about what Donovan did to get his face re-arranged…
Michael Douglas: We haven't shot it yet, but he insulted my deceased wife. It’s an office scene that calls for a punch, but I’m thinking Pym had little bit of military background. We haven't told Martin yet, but I think I’m either going to grab him by the tie so his face goes right [into the table, which Douglas demonstrates with his own tie]. Either that or [I’ll grab him] behind the head. This is the only flashback of Pym when he was 40, which I can’t wait to see. Actually, I’m starting a new career.
[Everybody laughs]
MD: I’m going to get new glossies made, sort of like Andy Kaufman. Remember? Andy did this thing “Isn’t Michael Douglas in his 70s?” “No, no. He’s 40.”
Question: What goes into that process of you playing your younger self?
MD: I don’t know anything. I know we’re shooting it on the last day. They said, “We can do it with the beard and mustache, but we prefer not to.” So we worked out the schedule; we’ll do it the last day. We’re shooting on a Sunday. I don't know how much I’m supposed to say here…
[A Marvel rep indicates that Douglas shouldn’t talk about that aspect of the film too much.]
MD: Okay. It’s like the police are here. So I’ll shave this off for the last sequence. Hey, I’m dying to see it.
Question: In that scene you were just filming, it looks like you had a fairly chilly reception from your daughter, Hope. I was hoping you can you elaborate on that a little bit?
MD: Yes, she’s chairman of the company, and as chairman she was the deciding to oust me a long time ago, because of personal reasons involving her mom and her family. She now understands where Darren is going, so we actually had a reconciliation. So [in this scene] we’re acting a little bit.
Question: We’ve heard a little bit about Hank’s history with SHIELD and being Ant-Man. Now he has a disdain for superheroes in general. Can you talk about that demeanor?
MD: I can’t, as far as a historian on comic books. Before I got this, I grabbed two or three of Ant-Mans and took a little look at Pym. I was looking for a little hair on my face, actually. But I’m not as knowledgeable to know.
Question: What about in the movie, what is his attitude toward the larger Marvel universe?
MD: Pretty dismissive. There are serious problems. I feel like I’m doing THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT, now. “There are serious problems…”
[Everybody laughs]
MD: Some of the things they do, IRON MAN and stuff, is silly compared to what’s going on in the real world.
Question: Do you think at this point in the Marvel franchise, it’s important to have a main character who has that negative, cynical slant on superheros, because all these previous movies have put them up on a pedestal?
MD: That’s a really good question. I don’t know. These guys are batting 1,000. They seem to have fallen into a real rhythm. From the pictures I have seen, this one is probably, I would say, more humane in terms of tying into real characters. The whole ant process is relatively unique, and there are special powers, but nothing compared to what some of the other Avengers are capable of. This one seems to have more personal stories, vis a vis my relationship with my daughter, Evangeline [Lily], and also Scott’s relationship in the script with his daughter, in trying to get to be a better family.
Question: Considering Marvel’s track record, what was it about playing Hank that drew you in to committing to it?
MD: I just wanted to do one of these pics. My entire career, which is a lot of movies, was just contemporary stories with no special effects, no nothing. Just psychological, real stories. So I did only one period picture, which will remain nameless—it’s not a very good picture at all…you guys will figure it out [I have to assume he’s talking about THE GHOST IN THE DARKNESS, which isn’t that bad]. So this to me was about the excitement; this is great. I want to get into the Marvel world. I want to taste the Kool Aid.
Question: How’s it been so far?
MD: It’s great for a lot of reasons. One, you have so many people who have done a lot of these Marvel films, there are so many departments where this is their fifth, sixth, seventh film. So just like actors enjoy the comfort of familiarity when you know each other makes it easier, crews have the same thing. Crews know each other. So that aspect is special, and then all this crazy shit. We’ve got a macro unit shooting, the second unit is coming in. Today the opening scene, where I walk into [the lobby], and Scott comes up on the ant, and then you get into it after a while, and you feel like you can see him. Or the training process scenes, where he’s trying to go underground and stay small like an ant, and every once in a while he freaks and comes out of it on the lawn as a full size adult. We have the sequence when he can run, get to the size of an ant, go through a keyhole, then get big again.
Question: From what I understand, Hank is lost in time; he lives in this Victorian house. Is there a Miss Havisham from “Great Expectations” thing going on? What really explains that behavior?
MD: The company and everything is in San Francisco, and he’s a Northern California formal guy. He’s lost control of his company, he lives in a time warp, he was always been a bit of a tinkerer, he’s got a lab plus all other stuff in his basement that we find out about. He’s certainly bitter about what has happened with his company and deeply scared about what the future might hold, because he himself, after getting small so many times, it’s difficult. He looks and tries to find a guy he can work with that has the right characteristics, who is Paul.
Question: We were told yesterday that the costume that Scott gets is the old Hank Pym costume. Did you get to put that on for the flashbacks?
MD: No, I didn’t think that would be fair to you.
[Everybody laughs]
MD: What happens if it fits Scott really well, but it didn’t fit Hank? I’d feel like shit. And I know the costumer built it for Scott. I certainly touched the leather, stroked the leather and a couple of other costumes that play a special part in this too.
Question: What’s it beeb like working with Paul so far?
MD: He’s great. He has this thing. If you get somber or sober or schmaltzy, he’s going to find a humorous way to end it, and he’s not afraid to put his face in the pie, and sometimes at the end he goes, “That sucked.” He’s very brave, funny, and he’s in great spirits now because he’s a fanatical Kansas City Royals guy. He’s from Kansas City, so he’s ecstatic.
Question: As a pure acting exercise, what do you get to do in this film that you maybe haven’t done before that you really enjoy?
MD: It’s larger than life. There’s a certain theatricality about it. It’s arched to a degree. Not like off the charts, but there’s a slight theatrical quality. Also, Peyton [Reed, director], I must say, is great. They’re very religious with the script that has been written and re-written a number of times. But you know, encourage you once in a while, more than most films, to try [and improvise something]—usually it’s the tail [of a scene] and see if you can come out with something a little different. For instance when we put together our heist team, there were three actors that were in prison, we did a scene with these guys just looking going, “This is not going to work with these guys.” They exited and I said “What a team.” It works to have that kind of freedom.
Question: We talked to Cory and Evangeline, and Paul who wrote a good portion of the script, and they all said they had an opportunity to really mold the character to what they wanted it to be. Did you have a chance to do it with Hank, or was there anything you said “We should do this more this way versus this”?
MD: No. I came in and got it. They were working through it. We had a couple of issues with directors. They were going though a few drafts. Paul was brought in—that was not initially part of the whole thing, for him to write. I did raise my hand a little bit, because I didn’t know Paul that well. I said, “Excuse me, but the leading actor writing a script. Uh…” [laughs] So no, I assumed there were parameters from the comics. You have to get used to playing someone your own age.
Question: I thought they aged you up.
MD: No, we got realistic about it. They were going to go up to 75, then it was like trying to stay in his 60s, then it was 50 years old. Then I said, “Look, I don’t want to be vain, but I look okay for my age. I’m worried people are going to start saying ‘Was he nine when he made the serum?’”
Question: Hank has such a deep relationship with ants. So did you have to do research? Did your opinion on ants change throughout the film?
MD: I used to like those chocolate covered ants early on. I thought that was a real specialty. I may have a new appreciation for them. I’m fascinated by them. I’ve done a little bit of homework now as we talk about the different types of ants that there are, and I’m thinking this is pretty cool, this is really clever how they can find this spectrum of support, and this whole idea of being able to communicate with them. It’s one thing to get down to their size, but literally treating them as battalions and moving them, and orchestrating them into walls is a gas. It’s going to be fun to see. And I finally got a picture that my son is proud of. It’s taken me 40 years. Now I’m cool.
Question: Kevin Feige shared an interesting story about your character’s relationship with Darren, and he said you saw a lot in him but then abandoned him, and said it was all too much. What is this darkness that Hank and Darren share that frightened you away from him?
MD: I think it goes back to the initial serum that I developed and what I saw, and there is a dark side to Hank. He has a military background, besides his whole science abilities. He wants to make the world a better place, but in doing so, I think he realizes how dark it is. So he sees that. He picked this guy; he picked Darren as his protégé early on in this company just like he picked Scott for this particular job. Just as there’s a bit of thievery maybe in Pym in terms of how he picked Scott, there’s a darkness also that makes him understand where someone like Darren can go and where he is going to go. And he feels guilty for evolving and developing this and seeing how it could be used in a negative fashion. Thank you, guys. Thanks you all for coming.
