As soon as Douglas returns from lunch, he's hustled off to wardrobe before he can deliver so much as a sound bite in my general direction. ''Be patient,'' one of the publicists says, patting me on the back. ''You'll get your turn.''
My turn turns out to be four hours later, after sundown, when Douglas allows me about 25 minutes in his cramped trailer. No time for subtlety, so I pitch my questions rapid-fire. On picking his parts: ''I like to go against the grain with the roles that I do,'' he says. ''I don't think of this character as a victim. I think of him as a contemporary hero. To me, anyone who struggles with a moral dilemma and overcomes it is heroic.''
On feminist backlash against Disclosure: ''A lot of feminists are concerned about women playing villains,'' he says. ''It's interesting. Male actors love playing villains. It's a big part of our careers. But it's an issue with women. I think back to (when I was producing) Cuckoo's Nest. We had five actresses turn down (the Nurse Ratched) role because they didn't want to play a heavy. Then Louise Fletcher won an Oscar for it.'' On sexual harassment: ''It's nothing new. It goes back to men dragging women by their hair into the cave. It's just that now it's become this issue. It's like I was telling Rebecca over lunch: I think we're in the middle of a gender war. I think guys are confused these days. I think they feel their role has been usurped. Who's the provider? Who's the nurturer? Who knows anymore? It's a big problem. I mean, if we followed the rules, we'd all be these sensitive, upstanding, compassionate men-and no women would want us. Women want aggressive guys who lay it on the line. It's really confusing for men these days.''
''Fortunately,'' he says, standing up and flashing an end-of-the-interview smile, "I don't have to worry about it. I'm a happily married man.''
Not a terrible interview, I decide. I'd have preferred oysters and white wine, but then there's always Demi...
The First Night: By a strange twist of hotel kismet, one of us (guess who) has been booked into a jumbo suite, while the other is stuck in an overheated single with a view of a construction site (jackhammering begins promptly at 8 a.m.). Exhausted from our day on the set, we settle in for a good night's rest. Or at least one of us does...
Rebecca: I'm thinking about what Douglas said at lunch, especially a comment he made about artificial insemination causing confusion in society. I'm not necessarily clear on that part, but I am actually falling for his isn't-it-terrible-to-be-a-sensitive-man speech when the phone rings: It's Douglas' publicist, wondering if I would like to join the actor and him for dinner and a concert in an hour. Alas, there is only one extra ticket.
Ben: It's downright amazing how many stations this hotel's cable television picks up. Why, a fellow could spend hours and hours merrily flipping across the dial...
Day Two: On location at a busy Seattle street corner. We'll spend the next six hours here, watching the cameras watch Douglas enter and exit an office building.
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