When Michael Douglas, then 54, caught sight of Catherine Zeta-Jones portraying Elena Montero in 1998’s “The Mask of Zorro,” he was instantly captivated.
In that same year, both Oscar-winning actors found themselves at the Deauville Film Festival, with Zeta-Jones promoting the film alongside Antonio Banderas, and Douglas attending for his movie, “A Perfect Murder.”
Following his instincts, Douglas had his publicist arrange a meeting.
However, things didn’t quite go as planned.
“I met her in the bar and was a complete gentleman,” shared the star of “Fatal Attraction” with People magazine. He recounted inviting her back to his room for a nightcap.
Later that evening, when the now 54-year-old star of “Ocean’s Twelve” joined him, he fumbled by saying, “You know, I’m going to be the father of your children.”
Douglas remembers her response: “You know I’ve heard a lot about you, and I’ve seen a lot about you, and I think it’s time that I say goodnight.”
Meanwhile, Zeta-Jones, whose breakout role was in “The Mask of Zorro,” believed the encounter with her future husband was purely work-related.
“I was going to a film festival. I thought Michael Douglas wanted to meet me for work because I knew he was a producer as well as an actor. I genuinely thought that because I was in work mode and I was going to a film festival, and that’s where film deals are made,” explained Zeta-Jones.
“So I never thought, ‘Oh my God, he wants to date me.’ And within hours of meeting me, he told me he wanted to father my children. So I presumed this was not for a job.”
But Douglas was undeterred. Knowing he would soon be filming “Entrapment” in Scotland, he arranged for roses to be delivered to her room upon her arrival.
In a 2019 interview with Access, Zeta-Jones joked, “You know what the worst thing is? He was right.”
Despite their initial hiccups, the couple, who share the same birthday with a 25-year age gap, have faced challenges. In 2013, they briefly separated, reportedly due to stress. However, they reconciled after a year apart.
In 2010, Douglas battled throat cancer, while Zeta-Jones grappled with bipolar disorder. But through it all, their love endured.
Recently, on their 23rd wedding anniversary, the couple, now grandparents, expressed their enduring love for each other. Sharing photos from their wedding and beyond, Zeta-Jones wrote, “Today we celebrate 23 years of marriage. Darling Michael, your Nobel Peace Prize awaits, I love you… from your darling wife, a gold star Medal of Honor recipient.”
Douglas also took to Instagram to share his sentiments, writing, “Happy 23 and Me, my darling @catherinezetajones. Can’t wait for 24! Happy Anniversary.”
“One netizen expresses, ‘I’ve always admired you both, which has fueled my love for all things classic… Happy Wedding Anniversary, my all-time favorite couple.’
Another shares, ‘The most charming and perfect couple!!! Congratulations!!’ While a third adds, ‘Remarkable! You’ve got to be one of the best couples in Hollywood for sure. I admire both of your work! Thank you for so many years of fantastic entertainment.’”
Dad & fiancée exclude his daughter from their wedding after she bought a dress & shoes for it
Reddit is the place where people share stories of their life and ask fellow redditors for advice and opinion on the decision they make.
A teenage girl recently shared that her dad and his wife-to-be excluded her from their wedding and she explained the reasons behind that heartbreaking decision.
“I (f18) was always pretty close to my dad. Closer to my mom but I often visited my dad (about 3-4 times a week). A few years ago he started dating “Anna”. Anna and I always got along when my dad proposed I was happy Anna seemed like she would be a great stepmom,” she started her post.
OP said that she was overly excited and was looking forward to the wedding. She bought a dress and shoes, but then her dad told her that he and his fiancée needed to talk to her about something important.
“Well a few weeks before the wedding after I had bought everything (dress, shoes, etc) my dad and Anna said they needed to “talk to me” Anna and my dad decided to have a child free wedding which I get especially for young kids.
“Well turns out child-free means no one under 18. On the day of the wedding, I was still going to be 17 so, therefore, I’m not allowed to be at the wedding because Anna wants to stay true to the child-free rule even for the daughter of the groom and her about-to-be stepdaughter.”
Devastated, OP told her mom what her dad and Anna said to her. The mom was as heartbroken as her daughter and decided to take her on vacation so that she cheer up. At the same time, the mom told the rest of the family what her ex-husband did to their daughter. Understandably, most of them were shocked and angry.
Later, OP posted birthday pictures on Facebook and wrote, “I’m so glad my dad and Anna didn’t allow me at their wedding since I was under 18; I feel more mature since yesterday.”
“The family was freaking out asking if that was true and bashing my dad and Anna. I later got a bunch of texts from my dad and Anna calling me immature and a selfish brat and that’s why I was too immature to be at a wedding. I was talking to some friends and they said I was kinda an AH for doing that and I should have just let it go.”
Fellow redditors shared their opinions and agreed that OP wasn’t an AH for telling the family what her dad did to her.
“NTA. What kind of man doesn’t have his own child at his wedding? Anyway, they made the choice, if they believe it was the right choice they should have no issue about it being publicly known. Plus, people might well assume you weren’t there because you disapproved of his new wife or chose a vacation instead. Ensuring people know WHY you weren’t there saves your own reputation,” one person commented.
“The no children was made for you. I’m sorry but let that sink in. She made that rule to keep you out. You now know where you stand in their marriage…you don’t. I’m so sorry. NTA. I personally think it was EPIC. Harsh but epic. They deserved more than that. I would even update it with pictures of their texts,” another added.
A third wrote, “I can’t help but wonder if she purposefully pick a date before OP birthday just so she couldn’t go. If the dad & step-mom wanted to make it child free but make sure OP was there they could have made sure the date was AFTER OP birthday but to make it just 2 days before….. nah they didn’t want her there & was just trying to use that as an excuse.”
We believe the dad was not right for excluding his own daughter from the wedding.
What are your thoughts on this?
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