Michael Douglas explains decision to take a break from acting

Michael Douglas made an intentional choice to step away from acting — and now, he can't imagine going back. The Fatal Attraction star explained why he had no immediate plans to return to acting during a press conference at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic on Saturday.

\"I have not worked since 2022 purposefully because I realized I had to stop,\" Douglas told reporters of his break from Hollywood. \"I had been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set.\"

He continued, \"I have no real intentions of going back. I say I'm not retired because if something special came up, I’d go back. But otherwise, I'm quite happy just to watch my wife work.\"

Douglas also addressed his future while reflecting on his decades-long career, and the way it was impacted by his 2010 oropharyngeal cancer diagnosis.

\"Stage 4 cancer is not a holiday, but there's not many choices, are there?\" Douglas said. \"I went with the program, involving chemo and radiation, and was fortunate.... I was fortunate with my medical attention and was lucky to continue working. We were able to handle it with radiation and chemotherapy, because otherwise, the surgery would have caused me not being able to speak, to talk, as well as removing part of your jaw, so it would have been limiting as an actor.\"

Douglas, who turns 81 in September, last appeared on the big screen in the 2023 Marvel entry, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. More recently, he portrayed American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin in the Apple TV+ miniseries, Franklin. But lucky for fans of Douglas' work, there is at least one more project from the actor still on the horizon.

The Oscar-winner is set to star alongside his son, Cameron Douglas, in the upcoming indie family drama Looking Through Water. The film, which doesn't yet have a release date, sees Douglas play a father who invites his estranged son to a father-son fishing competition in an attempt to reconnect. Like Franklin, Douglas filmed the movie in 2022 prior to his hiatus.

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

As for what lies ahead, Douglas — also an acclaimed producer — noted he has \"one little independent movie\" that he is \"trying to get a good script out of.\" But, he concluded that \"in the spirit of maintaining a good marriage,\" he is \"happy to play the 'wife'\" to his long-time wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones. He added, \"I am happy for Catherine to go to work — and she is very busy.\"

Douglas is not the only Ant-Man alum to step away from acting. His onscreen daughter Evangeline Lilly similarly announced an indefinite hiatus following Quantumania's release, sharing in 2024 that she \"might return to Hollywood one day\" but is \"stepping away\" for now.