Joel and Michael

This is copied from Joel's post on a family website. Written by Joel...


Last week I worked on the film "King of California" starring Michael Douglas. Tuesday, May 2nd was the first day of filming and there were only seven actors working this particular day.

I was cast as a golfer in a scene with Douglas...he plays the father of Evan Rachel Wood and they are looking for gold (which ends up being buried beneath a neighborhood Costco) on a golf course...

During the first few hours of filming I saw this bearded man hitting golf balls on the course...using my clubs! At first I thought it was someone from the crew but quickly realized it was Douglas himself sporting the long, bushy attachment. His character required it for the film. He had just helped himself to my clubs and my golf balls!

Of course...I didn't mind and used the opportunity to hold some great conversations throughout the day of filming as we hit golf shots together. He and his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) were playing in a charity tournament that weekend, so he needed the extra practice.

Later in the day I saw my new bearded friend shanking a few shots into a nearby lake...still with my golf balls! He finished this particular bit of practice and approached me to apologize about the lost balls...and...told the first assistant director to make sure I received a $50 "bump" on my contract for the day!

I guess it was just my "Basic Instinct" to strike up the conversation...and though it was a "Fatal Attraction" for the golf balls...I ended up with 50 extra bucks to invest on "Wall Street".