Cameron Douglas Reveals What It Was Like To Grow Up With Dad Michael & Catherine Zeta Jones
Cameron Douglas is opening up about what it was like growing up while discussing the importance of mental health with the Movember Family Man campaign.
Cameron Douglas, 42, has been open about his struggles growing up and how he turned his life around — and he’s thankful for the support from father Michael Douglas, 76, and step-mom Catherine Zeta-Jones, 51. “With Catherine, it’s always been fantastic and with my dad it’s always pretty good too,” Cameron told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY during an Instagram Live on April 12, while also discussing his work with the Movember Family Man. The free online parenting program equips fathers with the skill needed to cope with frustrating situations. “We definitely butt heads and certainly there were times in the past we may not spend much time together, but these days, things are lovely.”
It’s been a tough road for the The Runner actor and father of two who has worked hard to get to a better place in his own life. After being arrested a handful of times for possession of drugs, he served seven years in prison, two in a halfway house, and takes accountability for his struggles despite growing up in his famous family. “My family had the best intentions,” Cameron said. “And other than that, as my father used to say when I was younger, ‘Cameron, there’s good things about being a Douglas and there’s some not some good things but you hope the good things outweigh the negative things,’ and that’s certainly been the case in my life. I’ve been through some difficult times but they’ve all been self inflicted for sure.”
Michael’s career was just starting to take off when Cameron was born to he and ex-wife Diandra Luker, 65, and Cameron remembers always wanting to please his father. “I remember as a kid, my father always telling me, ‘I’m not your friend, I’m your father,’ and I remember thinking to myself, but I want to be friends, too!” Cameron added. “I remember friends having family members that I saw they were friendly with and so it was always something that I wanted to share with him was not only the fact that he was my father, but a friendship, and we definitely have that these days. It’s been a lot of fun.”
His late grandfather, the iconic Kirk Douglas, helped pave the way for not only his career, but his entire family. “I only have my own experience and nobody can really get into anyone else’s mind or what they’re going through,” Cameron added. “I always felt from a young age that I needed to stand out and if that wasn’t going to happen in sort of a positive way, I think subconsciously it started happening in a negative light. I think that comes from, in the best sense of the way, my grandfather’s amazing work ethic. He started his life, a first generation Russian immigrant. Both of his parents were illiterate. He bought into this thing called the American dream and had the backbone to do the work and really turn it into a reality and built a beautiful family. Those traits permeated through our family and always wanted to be a go-getter. If it didn’t happen positively then it was going to happen negatively. I was going to get some attention one way or the other, I guess.”
There were several perks that came along with growing up in a famous household, though the actor and author of Long Way Home admits he should’ve done things differently. “I was so blessed to be able to travel all over the world with my family from a young age,” Cameron revealed. “I think that traveling and mixing it up with other cultures is really the best education. I can say that now looking back and what I gained from being able to travel in that way. Of course, education. I was extremely blessed to have a great education as far as I allowed myself to take it.”