‘Franklin’ latest challenge for Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas has been working in television and films for more than half a century, so it is no wonder the two-time Oscar winner is being selective in terms of the work he does next. He’s picking roles that feel different to him.

The latest project that caught his attention was “Franklin,” a new limited series for Apple TV+. The eight-episode season is based on Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff’s book, “A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America.” It explores the story of the greatest gamble of Benjamin Franklin’s career when in December 1776, Franklin went on a secret mission to France.

Douglas has been looking for projects that provide a new acting challenge. He had never done a green screen film before he joined the Marvel Universe through the “Ant-Man” franchise. He jumped at doing “The Kominsky Method” to get to be part of a comedy series.

He jokes that taking the role in Franklin gave him the opportunity to see how he looks in tights. His serious response is that the chance to play Franklin was an opportunity too wonderful to miss.

“He had an extraordinary career, an extraordinary life, and we knew him in so many ways and he was really a Renaissance man in all senses.  But at 70 years old, in the year of our independence, 1776, we all forget that we were in the middle of a major war with the British, we declared our independence,” Douglas says. “The Continental Congress decided, well, we need Ben, because he was sort of well-known around the world, to do sort of an undercover diplomatic trip to France to try to get their support.  Otherwise, we’re not going to have a democracy.

“He was very bright, but was a little bit of a rascal, too, as we all know.  He was a little bit of a philanderer, liked to imbibe, big flirt, and yet, had a wonderful ability in terms of his idea of negotiating which was sort of a seduction.”

The 70-year-old Franklin – without any diplomatic training – convinced an absolute monarchy to underwrite America’s experiment in democracy. By virtue of his fame, charisma and ingenuity, Franklin outmaneuvered British spies, French informers and hostile colleagues to engineer the Franco-American alliance of 1778 and the peace treaty with England in 1783.

The eight-year French mission stands as Franklin’s most vital service to his country, without which America could not have won the Revolution. Diplomats and historians still regard it as the greatest single tour of duty by an ambassador in our nation’s history.

Playing Franklin meant Douglas would get to see himself in tights as part of bringing that era to the small screen.

“As far as the style in the 18^th century and all of that, we had a wonderful, wonderful cast. A great cast, wonderful director in Tim Van Patten, and I think it really, it helped us in the sense that it was a real ensemble group,” Douglas says. “I think we all wanted to stay away from these sorts of historical pictures that are giving you a history lesson, but don’t really get into the intrigue and the gamesmanship and the gamble that Rita sort of talked about early on.

“I was actually the only American actor. It was all French actors and English actors. And the joy of acting for us is when you go from different countries is [that] you all can work together, you have the same language.  So, it was a lovely experience and probably the best production I’ve been involved in in my career, so I liked it. “

Along with Douglas, “Franklin” stars Noah Jupe (“A Quiet Place”) as Temple Franklin, Thibault de Montalembert (“Call My Agent!”) as Comte de Vergennes, Daniel Mays (“Line of Duty”) as Edward Bancroft, Ludivine Sagnier (“Lupin”) as Madame Brillon, Eddie Marsan (“Ray Donovan”) as John Adams, Assaad Bouab (“Call My Agent!”) as Beaumarchais, Jeanne Balibar (“Irma Vep”) as Madame Helvetius and Theodore Pellerin (“There’s Someone Inside Your House”) as Marquis de Lafayette.

“Franklin” will premiere globally on Apple TV+ with the first three episodes on Friday, April 12, followed by one new episode every Friday through May 17, 2024.

The latest acting role has given Douglas a chance to play a different type of acting job.

“I enjoyed the ability he had to seduce. I love the ability, it would be a male or female, he could identify very quickly the foibles of somebody, whether it was flattery or something else, and knew how to bring the best out of them and make them all feel like he was Ben’s best friend, even though he had other ulterior motives,” Douglas says. “His joy of telling the white lie, I think, that probably I like the most.”

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