Five star turns

DOUGLAS’S DYNAMOS...

1 ROMANCING THE STONE

1984 Having developed a rep for socially conscious projects ( Cuckoo’s Nest, The China Syndrome), Michael embraced the chance to play a “light, fun character” like Jack T Colton, spawning a sequel ( The Jewel Of The Nile), a cast reunion ( The War Of The Roses) and hopeful talk of a never-shot threequel ( Racing The Monsoon).

2 WALL STREET

1987 In a year that saw him in the eye of a pop-culture phenomenon (bunny-boiling AIDS metaphor Fatal Attraction), Michael also found time to craft his most indelible film performance as Gordon “Greed is good” Gekko. Another metaphor, for the soulless excesses of the ’80s, says the actor: “as good a villain as you’re ever going to find.”

3 FALLING DOWN

1993 Appearing with Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct helped Douglas score his biggest box-office hit to date. The following year brought a stiffer challenge: William Foster, the unemployed divorcé driven to derangement by gridlocked LA traffic. “Some people may view him as a hero,” muses the star. “Most will probably see him as a psychotic.”

4 THE GAME

1997 A one-per-center gets pulled off his pedestal in David Fincher’s sly thriller, part of whose appeal lies in watching its lead’s movie-star persona fail to protect him from soul-crushing indignity. Nicholas Van Orton, says Douglas, is “the ultimate preening perfectionist, so aloof, above it all. There’s a part of you in every role you play.”

5 BEHIN D THE CANDELABRA

2013 It was while working with Douglas on Traffic that Steven Soderbergh had the idea of casting him as flamboyant ivory-tinkler Liberace: “It was literally the definition of a non-sequitur.” Thirteen years and one cancer fight later, the actor turned in an award-winning performance that he believes “proved very healing.”