LOS ANGELES, July 7: Michael Douglas, the 80-year-old two-time Oscar winner, has indicated that he may be stepping away from acting for good, saying he has “no real intentions” of returning to the profession.

Speaking at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic during the 50th anniversary celebration of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which he co-produced, Douglas told reporters that unless “something special came up,” he does not plan to act again.

His most recent role was portraying Benjamin Franklin in the Apple TV+ series Franklin, filmed in 2022 and released in 2024.

Douglas said, “I’ve had a very busy career. Now, I have not worked since 2022, purposely, because I realised I had to stop.”

He explained, “I’d been working pretty hard for almost 60 years, and I did not want to be one of those people who dropped dead on the set.”

“I’m very happy with taking the time off. I have no real intentions [to return]. But I say I’m not retired, because if something special came up, I’d go back. But otherwise, I’m quite happy. I just like to watch my wife [Catherine Zeta-Jones] work.”

Douglas mentioned that he is “trying to get a good script out” for a “little independent movie,” but added with a laugh, “I’m not pursuing work. My golf game is getting better.”

Reflecting on his health, Douglas recalled his 2010 battle with stage four throat cancer, where he underwent chemotherapy and radiation. He said he was “fortunate” to avoid surgery, which would have affected his ability to speak and possibly required removing part of his jaw — a limitation that would have impacted his acting career.

Douglas also commented on the current political climate in the United States, expressing concern that the country is “flirting with autocracy.”

“I look at it generally as the fact of how precious democracy is, how vulnerable it is, and how it always has to be protected,” he said. “I hope that what we’re struggling with right now is a reminder of all the hard work the Czechs did in gaining their freedom and independence.”

He criticized the role of money in politics, saying, “Politics now seem to be for profit. Money has entered democracy as a profit centre. People are going into politics now to make money. We maintained an ideal, an idealism in the US, which does not exist now.”

Douglas declined to elaborate further, saying, “I’m not going to go into too much detail. The news speaks for itself.”

“I myself am worried, I am nervous, and I think it’s all of our responsibility to look out for ourselves,” he concluded.