Old Pals Act

Hollywood stars Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin team up in a new Netflix generation-gap comedy

- Richard McClure

It’s certainly a busy November for Michael Douglas. As the veteran actor’s star is unveiled on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the 74-year-old takes the lead role in new Netflix comedy The Kominsky Method, which hits our screens on Friday.

The eight-part series comes from Chuck Lorre, the brains behind The Big Bang Theory, and sees Douglas playing a once-famous actor, Sandy Kominsky, who now earns a living in Los Angeles as an acting coach.

Among the cast is 84-year-old Alan Arkin as Sandy’s cranky longtime agent Norman, House actress Lisa Edelstein as Norman’s pill-addicted daughter Phoebe and Nancy Travis as Lisa, a divorcee who takes lessons from Sandy.

‘The show is about coming to grips with the reality of getting older,’ says Lorre. ‘There’s plenty of humour in the enormous cultural gap between Sandy and his fresh-faced students, most of whom are five decades younger than him.’

For Douglas, who is married to Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, the series is a rare chance to show his comedy skills after making his name in some of Hollywood’s biggest dramas (see panel, below).

We met up with Douglas during filming to hear more…

What do you like about The Kominsky Method?