Legendary actor Michael Douglas has more than a few eyebrow raising stories to tell — and he was not interested in having his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, weigh in on what he should or shouldn’t reveal in his bestselling memoir, One Helluva Ride.
“She would not have veto power, but I would not put anything in the book that she would not like,” Douglas, 82, told CNN ‘s Elizabeth Wagmeister during the Friday, October 30, episode of Coming Up.
“I mean, there was a life, I call it B.C. — Before Catherine, you know? And look, when I was making Romancing the Stone and carrying on with Kathleen Turner, Catherine was 7 years old,” he continued. “So people have a life, and I’m very proud of the chapter on Catherine and speaking about my love for her. And I think she understands me by now after 26 years.”
Douglas and Zeta-Jones, now 57, met in 1998 after her hit role in The Mask of Zorro. During their initial meeting, Douglas famously told his future wife, “You know, I’m going to be the father of your children.”
The pair, who have an over 20-year age gap, went on to welcome son Dylan in 2000 before saying “I do” that same year. They later welcomed a daughter, Carys, in 2003.
Douglas’ recent memoir, now a New York Times bestseller, touched on his infamous affairs with actresses Turner and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Zeta-Jones notably admitted that she had no interest in reading her husband’s book — though she did support him and celebrate its publication.
“As much as I love my husband, when I’m tired at night, I have no intention of reading about him — at all,” she said during a recent appearance on the Today show. “Everyone else should. The book is called One Helluva Ride, and I think everyone should hold onto their cowboy hats because I think it is [a ride].”
Douglas later responded while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, concluding that his wife skipping out on reading his memoir was probably “for the best.”
“We got a 25-year age difference. I opened up and exposed the fact that Kathleen Turner and I had an affair when we were making Romancing the Stone,” Douglas explained at the time. “I looked back and was like, alright, Catherine was 7 years old at the time and wouldn’t know her husband for 25 years ahead.”
He continued, “I think she’s had to accept the fact that having this kind of age difference, you may have had a life before you ever [saw] her for the first time in Zorro.”
