(Cannes) “I wondered how I could last so long”: American star Michael Douglas received a standing ovation before receiving the Palme d’or d’honneur at the Cannes Film Festival to crown his 55-year career .
“What a hug! “, he exclaimed in front of the room which warmly applauded him and where his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, and his daughter Carys were present.
“It means a lot to me, because there are hundreds of film festivals in the world, but there is only one Cannes. […] It’s an incredible honor,” he said.
“I’m getting a little older,” joked the 78-year-old American actor. “Looking at my 55 years (of career), I wondered how I could last so long”, he commented, while adding: “we work as hard for our failures as for our hit “.
This festival “reminds us […] that cinema transcends limits and unites frontiers”, he further underlined.
“To Cannes and to all of France, I would like to kiss with all my heart,” he said in French, before American actress Uma Thurman presented him with the prize. She called Douglas “an iconic movie star” and a “luminous entertainer.”
A short film was shown shortly before he appeared on stage, showing short clips from his most iconic films, such as Fatal Link (1987), Basic Instinct (1992) or My life with Liberace (2013). Last year, Forest Whitaker and Tom Cruise received the Palme d’or d’honneur.