In his new film, ‘Behind The Candelabra’, Michael Douglas has discussed his passionate kiss with Matt Damon, which delves into the life of flamboyant entertainer Liberace.
The two actors depict a pair of gay lovers in the film, featuring numerous love scenes that Michael confessed he and Matt did not actually rehearse for.
Playing the iconic role of Liberace, a renowned pianist and vocalist, Douglas has won four Golden Globes and two Oscars so far in his career.
Damon takes on the role of his lover, Scott Thorson, in a film that is directed by Steven Soderbergh and adapted from Thorson’s 1998 memoir, Behind The Candelabra: My Life With Liberace.
Douglas approached the act with ease, simply expressing that ‘Liberace loved sex…and I didn’t have a problem with that.’
Although he described the intimate scenes as feeling comfortable, both he and Damon have admitted that the abundance of sex scenes was ‘awkward’.
Recalling a specific scene, Damon laughed in an interview last year, stating, ‘The scene where I’m behind him and going at him, we did that in one take. We do it. Cut. There’s a long pause. And then you just hear Steven go, ‘Well… I have no notes.”
Douglas mentioned, ‘Matt and I didn’t rehearse the love scenes. We thought, ‘Well – we’ve read the script, haven’t we?”
Regarding the love scenes, he added that ‘the hardest thing … is that everybody is a judge.’
He elaborated that ‘everyone has had sex, probably this morning, which means everyone has an opinion on how it should be done.’ Aside from the love scenes, the film presented other new and somewhat lighthearted challenges for the seasoned actor.
‘I was the girl on this movie! The hair and makeup for Liberace took two and a half hours,’ Douglas remarked.
‘I’ve never experienced elaborate hair and makeup before. Until now, my entire career has revolved around contemporary roles.’
Douglas shared that he ‘had a strong memory of Liberace,’ adding, ‘I met him once with my father in Palm Springs… but what I mostly remember is Lee’s (Liberace’s nickname) TV show.’
Both Douglas and co-star Damon previously indicated that the biopic Behind the Candelabra was nearly discontinued after it was deemed too explicit.
by Helena Bryanlith
