The Oscar-winning Hollywood star Michael Douglas is currently starring in the patriotic new Apple TV+ series “Franklin,” which tells the story of the founding father Benjamin Franklin.
Douglas Loved Playing Franklin
While Douglas, 79, has become selective about his acting roles in recent years, he simply could not pass up playing as iconic a figure as Franklin.
“At this point, acting, it’s if I just want to do it. If I find something really, really good, a good piece of material,” Douglas told Sky News. “Producing, in some ways, I’m more comfortable with. You’re not required to be in front of a camera. And now, I guess, the thing I’m most happy about, I realize, with this show, is I’m more comfortable now handling both.”
“As an actor, my role is only like talking to you, I have blinders on,” he continued. “I have no idea what’s going on around me. Producing is having a 360 degree vision of everything that’s going on, and I guess I’ve been doing it long enough that I have that ability to cut my head off and act with a concentration and then be able to look around and see what the issues might be or how I can help.”
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‘He Basically Saved Our Country’
The miniseries tells the story of Franklin, who has gone down in history as America’s first diplomat. From 1776 until 1778, Franklin was in France trying to garner the country’s support for American independence.
“He basically saved our country from the British,” Douglas explained. “When I read Stacy Schiff’s book, ‘A Great Improvisation,’ which this was based upon, I was fascinated because I don’t think many of us know what a Renaissance man he was.”
“Franklin was sort of the beginning of the middle class, because he came from a poor background and established the basis for that,” he added.
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Franklin ‘Was A Rock Star’
Douglas also praised Franklin in another interview earlier this week.
“Ben Franklin, he was a rock star around the world, but he was also successful at diplomacy,” Douglas told Newsweek. “So here he was at 70-years-old being asked to go over to France with his grandson and get their help to develop our democracy.”
“If Ben Franklin did not succeed, we would not have America. That’s the bottom line,” he continued.
When it comes to how he went about playing Franklin, Douglas wanted to make him as “real” as possible.
“The secret of a good period show is to make historical figures like real people,” he explained.
Portraying Franklin Made Douglas More ‘Patriotic’
In the end, Douglas portraying Franklin has only made him love America even more.
“You become very patriotic when you do a show like this,” he said. “Hopefully it’ll remind us how proud we are to be in a democracy…It’s an ideal we have to support and desperately protect.”
It’s rare that anything patriotic is made in Hollywood these days, so a show honoring one of our founding fathers is needed now more than ever. The first three episodes of “Franklin” can be seen now on Apple TV+, and new episodes drop every Friday.
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