Michael Douglas Says Oliver Stone Once Slammed His Acting on “Wall Street” Set

Michael Douglas has revealed that director Oliver Stone strongly disliked his acting early on during the filming of Wall Street—so much so that Stone asked if Douglas was using drugs.

Speaking at the TCM Classic Film Festival in New York City, Douglas recalled that about two weeks into production, Stone visited his trailer and bluntly questioned his performance. Stone asked if Douglas was “okay” and then whether he was doing drugs, saying Douglas looked like he had “never acted before.”

Douglas said he normally avoids watching daily footage of his scenes because he tends to focus on mistakes. But after Stone’s comments, he decided to review the dailies. After watching them closely, Douglas felt his work looked solid and told Stone he thought the performance was good.

Stone eventually agreed. Douglas said the director’s harsh approach was meant to push him further as an actor, not to insult him personally. “He was willing for me to hate his guts for the rest of the movie to get that extra little push,” Douglas said.

In Wall Street, Douglas played the ruthless investor Gordon Gekko opposite Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah. The film follows the relationship between a young stockbroker and a powerful corporate raider.

Douglas’s performance went on to earn him the Academy Award for Best Actor, along with a Golden Globe and other major honors. He later reprised the role in Stone’s 2010 sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

In the book The Oliver Stone Experience by Matt Zoller Seitz, Stone said he liked Douglas in Wall Street and felt he was especially effective playing morally complex characters, even if his style could be off-putting in weaker material.