Michael Douglas resents his children being called 'nepo babies' and brands it a 'snotty' term - after following his own father Kirk's footsteps into acting

As a scion of an acting dynasty, he's never known anything but the bright lights of Tinseltown – just don't call Michael Douglas or his children 'nepo babies'.

As his offspring attempt to launch acting careers, the Wall Street and Fatal Attraction star, 82, condemned the term as 'snotty', insisting that in no other industry are parents criticised for 'helping their kids'.

The son of screen legend Kirk Douglas, who died in 2020, Michael is one of Hollywood's original nepo babies, although he vehemently 'resents' the term.

In an interview with the Sunday Times about his autobiography One Helluva Ride, he said: 'For the number of so-called 'nepos', there were very few people I could think of that had the kind of career my father and I had.'

He made it clear, however, that the phrase nepo (short for nepotism) baby had a 'snotty tone to it I really kind of resent'. 

Michael added: 'In every other business, every mother and father helps their kids. We all know the companies, the names are 'so and so and son, or daughter.' 

'In every other business everybody else, in relation, is required to have the same success or continuity. Whereas in this one, you're criticised for being the same.'

His criticism of the term, an abbreviation of the word nepotism and usually used to describe offspring of famous actors and musicians, comes just weeks after his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones called the term 'horrific'.

And the A-list couple's timing could be to do with the fact that their children Dylan, 26, and Carys, 23, are also trying to break into Hollywood with varying success.

Dylan graduated from Brown University in 2022 and last year landed a role in thriller I Will Come to You, while Carys made her stage debut in an off-Broadway production of Chekhov's The Seagull in July.

'This horrific phrase 'nepo baby' is horrible because these kids didn't ask to be born into this, they're finding their own way in life,' she said.

'But they love it, and they're good. Otherwise, Michael and I would be the first to go, 'You know what? Maybe law school looks really good.'

In his new memoir, Michael rejected the idea that he had been a womaniser before meeting Catherine, whom he married in 2000, claiming to simply be a 'healthy product of the Sixties'.

He said that he had to make 'five quick calls' when Catherine told him she wouldn't date him if he was seeing other people.

In the upcoming book, Michael finally admits to having an affair with co-star Kathleen Turner while filming their 1984 action-comedy, Romancing The Stone.

In an excerpt shared by People, he penned: 'Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.'

He then claimed that his marriage to Diandra 'was in a bad place' and that he had been having an affair with Romancing The Stone screenwriter Diane Thomas prior to meeting Kathleen.

Both Michael and Kathleen, who was single but dating real estate mogul Jay Weiss – the man she would later marry – steadfastly denied the affair, too, even when Hollywood gossip reached fever pitch when Michael's then wife Diandra became so worried that she flew to the Mexican set and confronted her.

But now, four decades on from the blockbuster, Michael has 'come clean'.

In his explosive memoir, he recalls how he and Kathleen, now 72, fell madly in 'lust' at first sight: 'Kathleen was smart, funny and sexy, with a deep sultry voice that became her signature. I instantly liked her and we were immediately attracted to each other.'

The Fatal Attraction actor added: 'Things at home were in a bad place. Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs. The truth is that during the production of Romancing The Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship.

'It wasn't a fly-by night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other.

'Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen.'

The pair kept their affair hidden from everyone including their co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis.

Michael penned: 'We found each other first as friends, then as co-stars, and finally as lovers.

'Following an exhausting day of shooting in the jungle, we'd go out and have a meal, or head out with the group and afterward I would sneak into her hotel room after everybody was asleep.'

Their clandestine romance ended when Michael's wife flew from LA to Mexico and brought their young son.

He added: 'Diandra grew suspicious. A woman's intuition, I suppose.'

Their marriage limped on until 2000 when the couple divorced – with Michael marrying Zeta-Jones that same year.

He and Turner had a 'gentleman's agreement' never to discuss their relationship and for four decades both stuck to that pact.

Michael wrote: 'The official story went as follows: Yes, we confessed, we had amazing chemistry. Yes, we were both, as Kathleen said, 'terrible flirts,' and yes, we were both tempted, but nothing ever happened between us.

'That was a lie. It was a lie meant to protect my wife and son, a lie we told the world for 40 years.'

Kathleen honoured that pact in an interview with The Mail on Sunday a few years ago, saying: 'The chemistry was there and Michael and I were both terrible flirts. We were in the jungle and I was feeling very romantic towards him. It was going to happen.

'Then I walked on set one day and his wife was suddenly there. She sat next to him and that was that. You don't mess with another woman's husband.'

When asked this week how she felt about Michael 'outing' their illicit romance, Kathleen appeared far from upset: 'Good heavens, what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.'

Michael and Kathleen proved to be a box office draw, with Romancing The Stone grossing $115million at the box office.

They reunited a year later for the sequel The Jewel of the Nile, but they kept their relationship strictly professional.

They did a third movie together in 1989, The War of the Roses, which was another massive box office hit.

Diandra eventually filed for divorce from Michael in 1995 after 18 years of marriage.

According to several reports, Diandra walked away with $45million and several homes.

Michael met actress Catherine in 1998 and they married two years later. They welcomed son Dylan that year followed by a daughter, Carys Zeta, in 2003.

Michael and Kathleen would go on to reunite once again, this time on the small screen in Netflix's The Kominsky Method.

Kathleen joined the show's second season in 2019 and also appeared in the third and final season in 2021.

They once again denied rumours of a past affair while promoting the series, leaving it as a four-decade secret.

One Helluva Ride will be released October 6.