Michael Douglas said he would be horrified if his 16-year-old daughter, Carys, dated an older man, much like the daughter of his character in Netflix’s The Kominsky Method. Douglas said he would support Carys, but would keep a very close eye on the relationship. Douglas himself is 25 years older than his wife and Carys’ mother, Catherine Zeta-Jones.
“I think it would kill me,” Douglas told Us Weekly at PaleyFest NY Thursday when asked how he would feel if Carys dated a much older man. “I’d try to support her but I’d be watching very carefully.”
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“Catherine and I have been talking about it. We’re very close to the first boyfriend coming, she’s been very picky but she’s right on the cusp,” Douglas added.
Douglas and Zeta-Jones have been married since November 2000 and are also parents to Dylan, 19. Douglas and his ex-wife, Diandra Luker, are parents to Cameron, 40.
Douglas and Cameron recently appeared on the cover of PEOPLE Magazine and openly discussed Cameron’s struggles with drug addiction and his seven years in prison. Since being released from prison in 2016, Cameron has tried to stay sober.
“It went from feeling [cautious] to relief, to the joy of having Cameron back,” Douglas told PEOPLE about his feelings after Cameron’s release. “It’s like this huge storm has passed and the sun came out and you can enjoy your life again without looking over your back. It’s a wonderful feeling of being complete.”
Cameron began using drugs in his teens and developed a cocaine and heroin addiction in his 20s. His parents tried to help, but he brushed them off for years.
“It’s the sneaky power, the stranglehold that addiction has when you’re in the throes of it,” Cameron told PEOPLE. “When you get that far down the rabbit hole, there are a couple options: there’s prison and then there’s death.”
Douglas admitted he thought about walking away from Cameron multiple times, but they have retained a close relationship since Cameron was released from prison.
“There were moments when hope dwindled… and then it’s just a train out of the station. You go from compassion for somebody you love and worry about and you balance that with your own hostility and anger as it begins to increase,” Douglas explained. “I remember him looking at me and I said, ‘Listen, you know I love you but I am going to protect myself and the family.”
Cameron is hoping to restart his own acting career and has a memoir, Long Way Home, coming out on Oct. 22. Cameron and his longtime girlfriend, Vivane Thiebes, share 22-month-old daughter Lua.
As for Douglas, he now stars in Netflix’s The Kominsky Method, which returns for Season 2 on Oct. 25. Douglas won a Golden Globe for Season 1, which also won the Golden Globe for Best TV Series – Musical or Comedy.
An ABC News special featuring Diane Sawyer’s interview with Cameron and Douglas airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET.
Photo credit: Andrew Toth/Getty Images for Hearst
