Help me understand leading man, sexy man Michael Douglas!

OMG. I just finished watching Fatal Attraction on Netflix five minutes ago. Glenn was amazing! Michael was ok. Jagged bottom teeth. No ass. Bloated face. Too much make up. But a likeable actor

Glenn was fantastic, I agree.

He has a swagger to him which I find appealing.

He was kind of sexy back in his day. You know who was so hot I almost lost my mind? Jeff Bridges in Against All Odds. Lord have mercy.

The 80s aesthetic is entirely lost on me.

OP - For emerging stars, the 70s was an era of more offbeat leading men - sexy but not conventionally handsome / pretty. By the mid 80s the pendulum had swung back in the other direction. But obviously longer careers overlap eras - there were conventionally handsome older actors still working in the 70s as the offbeat crew continued to work into the 90s.

I crushed on him in my teens during his time on The Streets of San Francisco on TV. Later not at all - maybe the movies Coma or The China Syndrome.

But as r3 said, Jeff Bridges was hotter in the 80s, and well beyond.

Rixhard Gere, Johnny Depp and Matt Dillon were hot.

I never found him likable as an actor. He’s OK looking I guess.

Michael Douglas (circa Fatal Attraction) exuded a kind of hot daddy vibe, IMHO. Very handsome though very white bread.

I've never understood the appeal, along with Adam Driver, Ryan Reynolds, and Bradley Cooper, and the new queen in town: Glen Powell.

I am with you on Cooper, R10. He is a great comparison to Douglas.

Adam Driver is weirdly appealing to me.

I had a crush on Ryan when he was on this sitcom but I find him unappealing now because his whole persona feels contrived.

It's crazy that his 2 Guys costar became a pornerwhe Ryan was the one cast for his sex appeal.

I can't like him. I know to much about what a cunt he is in real life.

Nepo-baby

I think he was and is, very sexy. The man can ACT too - if you've not seen Falling Down, I highly recommend it. Here he is in another great film, The Game:

OP, I'm confused as to why *you're* confused. Are you seriously trying to argue Michael Douglas "only has a face for radio"? Please. He was unambiguously good-looking in his younger year, though I know some would argue he was "generically handsome." (I disagree.) If you still don't "get it," I'd suggest watching "Romancing the Stone" (and possibly its not-great sequel, "Jewel of the Nile") to get his leading man appeal. Also "The China Syndrome."

If anything his type of appeal is similar to Harrison Ford's, who's only a year older than Douglas. Finally, I'm only a couple of years older than you, so this isn't some sort of "age thing."

I like Adam Driver as an actor but ever since someone on here described him as looking like a gnu, I can’t unsee it.

I agree with you Op. the answer is obvious, nepotism. There were many more talented and good looking actors than him, but he somehow managed to bag a lot of main, now almost classic roles. He wasn’t bad looking nor a horrible actor, but except for the family connections there is no way he would get all such roles. The one thing I can’t really forgive him is his sorrowful ass, there were so many guys with nicer asses out there but in the 80s and 90s almost all you got was his flabby one. For this I can’t forgive him.

I remember Michael Douglas being considered a good actor and a movie star, but in all my days I've never heard anyone refer to him as a sex symbol or object of desire. People talked like that about Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson or Denzel Washington, but never Douglas. Not that he's a dog, that was just never part of his persona to my knowledge.

He was gorgeous in the '70s. The gorgeousness was gone but he was still sexy in the '80s, imo.

You don't have to get it, OP. Many people did. Nepotism can only get you auditions, it doesn't get butts into theater seats to see your movies.

OP you may have just described what made him sexy. He has character actor looks with leading man swag. I didn’t find him sexy until I watched Wall Street again in my late 20s. I’ve seen him in interviews; he just walk around with the aura of old school money and a big dick.

Pretty much any white person with small features or as I say regular white people features that is also slim and fit is deemed attractive. So they grow or learn to be sexy lol.

I'll concede he had sex appeal in Wall St. but I was over him by then. BLACKMUSSY, he fits that type better in the 70s on tv imo in The Streets of San Francisco. Take a look if you can find it. I claim no guarantee of the show itself, only his appearance.

I think I'm in the minority here but I found Douglas extremely sexy in Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct when I first saw those movies (back in the 00s). I masturbated countless times to scenes in those movies.

R23 I find him sexy in those movies too.

R24, I think we are in the minority on here but oh well. I like older guys who are fuckable.

I think he was handsome in his prime. How do you explain sexy or handsome, OP?

Sorta related: I love the movie Coma. It sucks you in.

I don't think he is ugly or anything. I just don't find him attractive either classically or in an offbeat way. He looks like...someone who'd be a coworker or something. Just someone who is there. With zero sex appeal.

Bradley Cooper is conventionally more attractive in my eyes but he also has absolute zero sex appeal.

Listen, there's no accounting for subjective tastes. Some people do it for you and some do nothing.

I think it's great that everyone seems to be attractive to someone. And even people who seem objectively gorgeous to someone can be hideous to another person. I have always thought Angelina Jolie has superhuman beauty and my sister has always thought she's just plain freaky looking. It's not a personal attack, just subjectivity.

[quote]I agree with you Op. the answer is obvious, nepotism.

Is nepotism responsible for his two Oscars, cunt?

"a porner". sheesh. The Maiden Auntie Brigade never lets up. He leaked a couple sexy pics.

[quote] Sorta related: I love the movie Coma. It sucks you in.

It's okay. TOM SELLECK has a small part, looking like a Marlboro ad until ... nope spoiler.

Genevieve Bujold was great as a mature Nancy Drew but why ignore her Quebecois French accent? Su-szaaan Wvheeler. They could have pronounced her name flat out as Suzanne with no need to explain.

But Douglas was cute in this.

Come on, nepotism May have got him in the door but he had a string of Box Office hits to his credit, especially in the 80s-90s and was a bona fide movie star in his own right. He was sleazy enough to imagine Catherine Tramell fucking him.

He's a bigger star and probably more talented than his father. Maybe nepotism is at least worth exploring when it comes to artistic / performing talent. Genetics maybe. Or nurture. Regardless

its why 99.9% of beautiful models types dont become movie stars..u have to have IT. Reese or Ms Aniston arent runway model beautiful, but both guys and girls love them. How many model types are hit pop singers...and its nor cos they cant sing as well as Britney or Kylie...Actors like Rob Lowe or Henry Caville or Matt Bomer can only play a part where its a requirement that tge audience understands that this character is Hot. You have to have decent enough looks for leading man status, but not Adonis looks unless you're playing adonis.

Excellent films he has made and produced. Not sexy or good looking but very entertaining. I will watch anything he stars in.

R12, SPILL IT!

One of the nastiest people in Hollywood. In every way imaginable.

Details! Please.

I think he is sexy and got leading man roles because he started at the right time. Michael Douglas started getting leading man parts during the period that Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson , Meryl Streep and Cher were playing leads. Michael Douglas might not be movie star gorgeous - BUT if he worked in your office , or was a PTA dad he would be a scorcher.

R32, the essence of nepotism is getting into the door. You a got a couple of movies, face recognition and,suddenness, a career. As a sex symbol no less.

I liked him in Romancing the Stone with Kathleen Turner. Both were attractive in that movie. They had chemistry. I think he has decent chemistry with all of his co-stars.

He definitely was catnip for fraus (and some men) in that shaggy 70s era.

The older he's gotten, the more the old man face comes out. And that started in the 80s.

Ample hair and flaired nostrils get you everywhere.

R40 I would say nepotism also includes getting you fixed up with work. Michael wasn't landing his 70s movie roles based on being Kirk's son

He has awful toothpick legs and a flat butt.

I never understand the idea of him as sexy either.

He´s usually delivers serviceable or better performances, and has a good voice, but I never understood the packaging of him as a romantic lead, and that "Romancing the Stone." I had to reevaluate my previous dislike for him for his leading role in "Wonder Boys" which is an absolute favorite film. And one in which he plays against his usual type (hard-nosed captain of industry or miscast romantic lead.)

Leading man means nothiong to me other than the man in the principal role. In "The Third Man," that´s Orson Welles, who might have a very sexy voice and a certain swagger, but is a handsome man only in a modern Henry VIII kind of way. Old Jack Nicholson, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, Jim Carrey, Paul Giametti, all have had leading men roles but are faces that are nothing if not hard to look at.

His father had a flat ass too. Runs in the family.

[quote] Nepotism can only get you auditions

Which is 75 percent of the battle.

He at least admits his nepo status and expresses gratitude. Unlike the current crop of talentless trash.

[quote] Maybe nepotism is at least worth exploring when it comes to artistic / performing talent.

Yippee for me! I be an artist!

R23 = Catherine Zeta-Jones

He looked like the rich, hedge fund daddy of the ‘most popular guy in junior high’ that everyone crushed on who probably drive a Saab and took the family out to Pizza Hut every Thursday. I was totally hot for him in the 80’s. His thick hair, the piercing light eyes, and a butt to be grabbed. I wanted to eat his daddy tighty whities! He just was an unquestionably attractive man. Not a super model, but definitely got the best genes from mom and dad.

He’s waaaay more handsome that Bradley Cooper 🤢 puh- lease

R46 It is unfair to put Jim Carrey in the same category as John C. Reilly and Paul Giamatti. Jim can be very good looking. Just saying.

If you like eyes too close together, rosy-cheeked chipmunks, r51.

He also had a deep, alpha speaking voice (like Alan Thicke, another junior high daddy that I fancied) r53

It’s the hair.

“When Michael calls” 1972-ABC TV

Recently he claimed his “big dick” kept him a star in Hollywood but he doesn’t say HOW this big dick accomplished this “decades long” effort?

Nah- not going to help you “understand”.

He has charisma, something a lot of leading men today lack.

Russian Jew = big weiner

Ben Affleck also has a flat ass.

There's a certain je ne sais quoi with him. As others have pointed out, commanding voice, decent hair and looks overall. But he tended to carry his roles well and with a certain gravitas. Perhaps the result of being from an acting family. He chose decent roles too. The nepo aspect definitely helped him but back in the day I wouldn't kick him out of bed. He's aged well too.

It was the 70s, he fit the look then.

He has a likeable personality. Good on talk shows and in podcasts.

Douglas mentions this big dick of his but have we seen any proof ? A big fat uncut NO! So Michael - where’s the BEEF!

He was in ‘’The China Syndrome’’ with Jane Fonda/Jack Lemmon. Fun Film.

R41 It's been years since I've seen Romancing the Stone. Very enjoyable movie.