Michael Douglas loves the Traffic

Michael Douglas is in an understandably ebullient mood. His two films Wonder Boys and Traffic, currently playing in US cinemas, both earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Picture and he, himself, a Best Actor nod for the former.

And, of course, there's that baby, that wedding and that Welsh girl, herself the recipient of a Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress nomination for Traffic, Steven Soderbergh's enthralling exposition on drug trafficking either side of the US-Mexico border.

Douglas will go no further on the subject of Traffic without clarifying a very important point: he and Catherine Zeta Jones both star in the film, but not together. Though happy to sell themselves to panting OK! readers, they are less thrilled at the prospect of Traffic being sold as a Douglas mom and pop package. Not only do they have no scenes together, they don't even appear in the same strands of the film, which comprises three non-connecting segments.

"We consciously try to have our names apart in the artwork" says Douglas. "But the trouble is with the publicity machines in each country, they want to put us together because they think it's going to sell more cinema tickets. We try to police it. We have things in our contracts."

Douglas had initially turned down the role of America's newlyappointed drug czar Robert Wakefield which was then offered to Harrison Ford. At the time, says Douglas, the role was "the weakest part in the piece". By the time Zeta Jones was signed up (Soderbergh's first and only choice for the role), the script had improved immeasurably.

"Harrison is smart. I don't know what happened to him but the part got a lot better, really smart. So I jumped up and said, 'Please reconsider me, can we think about it?'"

What director, even one as erudite as Soderbergh, wouldn't want Michael Douglas, famed Democrat and political flirt, playing a Republican politician whose teenage daughter is strung out on drugs? It was only a few months ago that Douglas was complaining about the appalling scripts cluttering his desk. Now he is a strong contender in the Best Actor Oscar race, for his Wonder Boys performance. He might also score a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Traffic. Yet, in spite of the accolades, Douglas is extremely self-effacing.

"What I like most about all the talk is that we're talking about two movies that are in the running for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography. That's when you know you're in a good movie. So many actors just read their parts and say, 'What a great part this is'. I say, 'Yeah, but the movie can still be a piece of shit.' I don't want a good part in a lousy movie. I'd rather have whatever part I can in a movie I think is good. Then again, talk is cheap although it's been a thin year."

True enough, but the end of the year and beginning of 2001 heralded an unexpectedly strong slew of contenders. Douglas looks like being one of the few to challenge Russell Crowe for the Best Actor Oscar; two Romeos whose recent romantic endeavours may or may not endear them to those crucial voters. Unlike his career, his personal life would win him few awards.

Take The Wedding, for example; middle-Americans in particular were appalled on hearing that in lieu of wedding presents, guests should endow baby Dylan. Stories have emanated of nervous guests at the wedding asking others how many zeros their cheque boasted. Unsurprisingly, Douglas thinks the subject is "nobody's business".