Kirk and Cameron Douglas: It Runs in the Family

Let's see, his dad is married to hot-looking Catherine Zeta-Jones and won some acting and producing Oscars and his grandpa Kirk played Spartacus and hung out with guys like John Wayne. No wonder young Cameron Douglas, Michael's son, took a while to decide to enter the family business. In the comedy It Runs in the Family, three generations of Douglases play dysfunctional family members who learn to get it together before it's too late.

Cameron dresses in jeans and tee and looks like any surfer dude or college roomie anywhere. The young actor is a New York D.J. and had worked behind the camera on the crews of several of his dad's films but in It Runs in the Family, he takes on his first serious acting gig and plays a d.j. named Asher, a rebellious college student trying to find himself. It's no secret that Cameron has had his brushes with drugs and an identity crisis and this part did fit him perfectly but he's excellent in the role. It must be no small feat to hold your own with your grandma, actor dad and legendary grandpa in your first film.

When we interviewed Kirk and Cameron at the Four Seasons hotel in L.A., we were impressed at the obvious love between the two as the younger Douglas saw his grandfather, who is still suffering from the aftereffects of a stroke, into the room, made sure he was comfortable and beamed at Kirk's flattering remarks about his first acting effort. First, we heard from Kirk who has a great sense of humor.....

TeenHollywood: How are you feeling, Kirk?

Kirk: I don't know. [To Cameron] How am I feeling?

Cameron: Well, you look pretty good.

TeenHollywood: Why did you wait so long before getting the whole family together for a movie?

Kirk: That's a good question. I think that making this movie was almost the apex of my career. First of all, Michael [Douglas]and I talked about making a movie together, but I was making movies and he was making movies, and then, when he came up with It Runs In The Family I thought that was a good idea, a good movie. Then, I had a stroke. I couldn't talk well enough to make the movie.

I was very depressed and Michael was trying to cheer me up and he says, 'Dad, just keep working with your speech therapist, then we'll make the movie,' and I got mad, and I said, 'Michael, why don't you work with my speech therapist and when you talk like I talk, we'll make the movie.' Michael still doesn't talk like I talk, but I kept working and we made the movie and that was a big thrill, the first time that I worked with my son, Michael. The bonus was that I got to work with my grandson, Cameron. I think that this is the first time that a movie has been made with three generations. It was very important for me.

TeenHollywood: You character in the film isn't very supportive of his son but we hear that you were very supportive and proud of Michael when he was growing up.

Kirk: I will tell my story about Hawaii. I was making a movie in Hawaii, In Harms Way, and Michael, I think that I caught him smoking pot or something. I was mad at him and I was like, 'Okay, I'm taking all the kids, I'm taking Joel, Peter and Eric, you're not coming. You stay here and get a job,' and we went off to Hawaii and made the movie. When I came back, I found that Michael got a job as a gasoline station attendant and not only that, he was the Mobil Man of The Month. So, sometime later, Michael got two Oscars and I said, 'You know, Michael, to me, those Oscars are not as important as the Mobil Man of The Month,' and I meant that because here he was on his own, it was rough and he survived. He got a job and did it well. So, to me, that was almost a turning point. I saw the character of my son. He was a survivor.

TeenHollywood: What was it like working with Cameron's grandmother, your ex-wife again after many years?

Kirk: It was very easy because my ex-wife Diana and I have always been friends after having been divorced almost fifty years ago and she's also a friend of my wife. So, we're all friends. So, there we were, the whole family, making a movie together, and she's also a good actress.

TeenHollywood: Michael said that you had some notes all the time on this movie set. Is that true?

Kirk: Well listen, I couldn't talk, but I could write. That's the way that I work on movies. I've been the producer of a lot of movies and I studied the whole movie and Michael always kids me about the notes. I think they used about 90 percent of my suggestions. He kids me.. 'oh no, more notes from my dad'.

TeenHollywood: How did Cameron do on his first performance? Be careful. He's sitting right here.

Kirk: Cameron was a disc jockey, still is a disc jockey and the part was perfect for him. So, the first scene we had, we were all around the table like this, and he comes in late, and he's very good at coming in late [Cameron Laughs], and so, in that scene, he has a lot to say. I knew right then. I don't have to worry about Cameron. You can't really learn to become an actor. Either you have the talent or you don't, and when Cameron came in for that first scene, I thought 'He's going to be fine,' and he was. As a matter of fact, I have to be careful because I think that he stole the picture. Listen, I'm going to leave you because he talks better when I'm not in the room. He can give the real lowdown on me and everyone else.

At this point, we say goodbye, Kirk leaves and Cameron is put on the spot...

TeenHollywood: So, Cameron, now that your grandad is out of the room, did they put the screws to you to be in this film?

Cameron: No. I've been real curious for the last two and a half, three years about giving acting a try. It was a thought that kept bouncing around in my head and I couldn't stop thinking about it. But, before that, on purpose I tried to steer clear of acting because I wanted to try to form my own identity. My whole family from my uncles to my grandma, everybody was involved in it. I did it with music and I love music but I still couldn't get the thought out of my head of just giving it a try.

TeenHollywood: Did you just go to drama school then?

Cameron: I started studying with this acting coach named Michael Howard and I did that for a while but it tapered off because I was working in nightclubs and those two lifestyles were just totally opposite. Then my father came to me with this script and said, 'there may be a part in this that you're good for if you want to do some work and audition'. Inside, I was like 'dude, that's it'. That was the motivation. I hit it hard and studied every day with this coach and really enjoyed it. Once I actually started working I realized how much I really did love it, genuinely did love the work. It just made me very happy.

TeenHollywood: You didn't just get this handed to you, right?

Cameron: I auditioned three or four times. The first time I auditioned, it was in the casting director's office and they had me sitting behind her desk and I looked down at the table and there's the name of my character Asher Gromberg with a list of about twenty other fellas they had in mind for the part and a good fifty percent of them I recognized. I was like 'oh, man'. I felt like I did a horrible job but it ended up working out.

TeenHollywood: How was doing your first love scene with cute co-star Michelle Monaghan?

Cameron: [laughs] Michelle's first day at work we did that basketball scene [in which Cameron's character tries to impress her and throws up] so that broke the ice pretty quick but she's a really good person and we got along well right off the bat. Plus she's not too bad to look at either so it wasn't too bad.

TeenHollywood: Was it really hard to work in character with your dad and grandfather?

Cameron: No. All I know is I went into it on my first day not knowing what to expect. I don't think any of us really knew how we were going to react to one another, how it was all going to work out. We spend time together but, for the most part, we're off doing our own things. But I think everybody was just really happy with the way it turned out and enjoyed it very much.

TeenHollywood: In your character Asher you see a lot of parallels to your life; the music, the problems with drugs. Was that too weird for you?

Cameron: For me, it was good. There are some real genuine emotions and feelings that I was able to draw from to help portray this character. I think that was a real asset for me.

TeenHollywood: Did your dad give you some advice about press junkets?

Cameron: (Laughs). He just threw me in the deep end. He said 'make sure you get some rest. It's going to be a long day'.

TeenHollywood: Has your relationship with you dad improved by doing this film?

Cameron: Me and my dad have a pretty good relationship. I think, doing this movie together he gained a different kind of respect for me. It works both ways. It was nice to work with him and spend time with him just shooting the breeze in the trailer for a few hours at a time.

TeenHollywood: So, after doing the film, you are still sure you want to pursue an acting career?

Cameron: Absolutely. I'd be working on the movie and think to myself, 'there's not one place in the world that I'd rather be', whether it was sitting in my trailer staring at the wall or whatever. I just got such a joy out of it. It's hard to explain about when something genuinely touches you and makes you happy. I found that with acting so I'll give it my best shot.