'Self-Conscious' Michael Douglas Credits Former Roommate Danny DeVito With Never Making Him Feel Like a 'Nepo Baby'

Michael Douglas is looking back on one of the friendships that shaped both his personal life and career.

The Oscar winner opened up about his decades-long bond with Danny DeVito, revealing the actor never treated him differently despite his famous Hollywood lineage.

Douglas, 81, reflected on meeting DeVito, 80, while the pair were working at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut in the mid-1960s before later becoming roommates in New York.

"When I graduated from college and ended up in New York, he and I were roommates," Douglas recalled, per AARP. "He just was a special guy."

The actor admitted he often felt the weight of being the son of Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas while trying to make a name for himself.

"I think it was also that I was a little self-conscious in terms of being an early nepo baby, and he never treated me as a movie star's son," he shared.

Danny remembered their first meeting a little differently — beginning with a motorcycle ride to pick up beer.

"The guys wanted to do a beer run, and Michael had a motorcycle, so he volunteered to go," Danny recalled. "I had some pot, and I said, 'Do you get high?' He says, 'Yeah.' So we got high."

Their friendship eventually carried over to Hollywood, where they starred together in Romancing the Stone, The Jewel of the Nile, and The War of the Roses, which Danny directed.

Michael laughed while recalling one prank Danny pulled during the filming of the 1989 movie's climactic chandelier scene.

"We got up on the chandelier, and they say, 'OK, everybody ready?' 'Yeah, we're ready,'" Michael remembered.

Instead of calling action, Danny joked, "'OK, that's lunch!'"

Michael recalled that he and Kathleen Turner were left suspended in the air for several minutes before the director returned.

"He came back and said, 'What you put me through for Romancing, this is payback time, Mikey!'" Michael remembered.

Despite the prank, Michael revealed that's exactly the kind of person Danny has always been.

"He's got a wonderful, wiggy sense of humor," he quipped. "He sees the absurdity of situations and finds the humor in the absurdity. And he's always testing boundaries."

Their friendship also helped shape both of their careers.

Michael, who produced One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, said he brought director Miloš Forman to see Danny perform off-Broadway before casting began.

"Danny was the first person cast," Michael went on. "Miloš saw him and said, 'Yah, we have Martini now.'"

Although Michael admitted he initially wasn't sure how audiences would respond to Danny because of his height, he said his friend never lacked confidence.

"He never makes you aware of him being short," Michael explained. "He just embraces you with his charm and sense of humor."

Danny credited his close-knit family and lifelong friendships with giving him the confidence to take chances throughout his career.

"Because of them, I always had a feeling that no matter what I was doing, I could do it, no holds barred," he said.

Looking back on his decades in Hollywood, the Taxi alum also offered advice to aspiring actors.

"Make an impression," Danny said. "Walk in there and take over the room, and the rest is history."

He added that the best way to navigate life is simple: "Do it with gentleness and extraordinary kindness."