Michael Douglas on Catherine Zeta-Jones Separation: This Isn't Necessarily the "End"

"I'm very hopeful," the Last Vegas actor says on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno

By Zach Johnson Oct 22, 2013 11:09 AMTags
Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones Courtesy: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for GREY GOOSE

Michael Douglas remains optimistic as ever that his marriage to Catherine Zeta-Jones will survive their recent separation. The 69-year-old Last Vegas star stopped by The Tonight Show With Jay Leno on Monday, Oct. 21, where he opened up about his 12-year union to the 44-year-old Welsh actress.

"I've been away for a while, but everything should hopefully be on the up and up," said Michael, who wed the Playing for Keeps actress in a lavish ceremony in November 2000. "Sometimes people take a little bit of a break, but it doesn't necessarily mean that's the end. I'm very hopeful." (Over the weekend, the Emmy winner told E! News he's "doing great" and things are looking "onwards and upwards" with Zeta-Jones.)

Michael added that their children, 13-year-old Dylan and 10-year-old Carys, are "doing great." In fact, one of them is determined to follow in his famous father's footsteps.

"Dylan doesn't see any reason to do anything else because he wants to act," the Behind the Candelabra star shared. "He was at me the other day and he said, ‘Look dad, I've been president of my sixth grade, my seventh grade, I'm in eighth grade now and I'm president of the school…I've been on the honor roll for two years straight…Dad, you saw me in Oliver. I played the Artful Dodger.'...He says, ‘Dad, how about throwing me a bone?' I said, ‘Sure, okay. We'll work on it.'"

Michael, of course, took after his own famous father, the legendary Kirk Douglas.

While Michael isn't concerned about his son's showbiz dreams, he admitted to host Jay Leno that he's "a little worried about this ‘no need for school' thing."

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