The Big Picture

• Michael Douglas excels at playing atypical roles, like Liberace, showcasing a versatile range.
• Behind the Candelabra captures Liberace's flamboyant persona, vulnerabilities, and complex relationships.
• Douglas dives deep into the misunderstood aspects of Liberace, portraying his need for love and acceptance.

Michael Douglas doesn't do biopics very often. He is currently starring as the inventor and great American founding father, Benjamin Franklin, in the new Apple TV+ series, Franklin. If it's half as good as his first foray into playing real-life people, the streamer will indeed have another hit. In Steven Soderbergh's 2013 Behind the Candelabra, the Hollywood icon rolled the dice and took on the role of Liberace, the inimitable flashy and bedazzled musician who wowed audiences with his piano-playing skills and one-of-a-kind stage presence spanning the late 1930s all the way into the early 1980s.

Douglas has carved out a tremendous career playing leading men who have a certain swagger and on-screen presence about them, winning an Academy Award for Best Actor as the alpha high finance guru in Oliver Stone's masterpiece, Wall Street. He has also made millions of dollars for major studios as a rugged adventurer in the Romancing the Stone movies and as a hard-boiled cop in Basic Instinct. So, for a performer who has 50 years of bona fides in tough guy dramatic parts, playing a closeted gay musician in the twilight of his career is a worthwhile outlier to what the actor does so well. Only an actor as accomplished and talented as Michael Douglas could do it with such incredible aplomb, smacking a home run in the part.

What Is 'Behind the Candelabra About'?

Behind the Candelabra is based on the 1988 book of the same name by Scott Thorson and Alex Thorleifson, which is Thorson's take on his wild, almost five-year affair with Liberace. The story sees him go from a small-town animal trainer to living in the lap of luxury as the most recent boy toy of the flamboyant star, who was playing a residency in Las Vegas at the time. Liberace is enamored with the dashing and statuesque blonde young Thorson (Matt Damon) and moves him into his house, gives him a job, and becomes sexually involved with him.

The two are fairly happy together in the beginning, but as Scott's drug use becomes more prevalent and Liberace's wandering eye and insatiable sexual appetite cause problems, everything begins to spiral out of control. After a messy break-up, the two are separated for years only to be reunited one final time as Liberace is dying from AIDS-related complications in 1987.

Michael Douglas Becomes Liberace in 'Behind the Candelabra'

There are a handful of absolute necessities when trying to replicate a man like Liberace, and Michael Douglas embraces all of them, sinking his teeth right into the role. The first requirement is the voice, and Douglas takes his natural baritone dulcet up several octaves to capture the unmistakably nasally, high-pitched voice. Second, you must master the dainty, almost walking-on-air gait of Liberace, which Douglas nails perfectly. The third, however, requires the help of a solid make-up and wardrobe department.

The clothes make the man, which has never been more accurate than when discussing Liberace. Resplendently bejeweled sequins, flowing capes, and trains are the order of the day, and Douglas fills them out with a style all his own. Topping everything off is a perfectly-feathered black wig that lies atop a face that has been nipped and tucked too many times to remember. It's all part of becoming the vain and largely misunderstood pianist who changed how the instrument was played. Douglas addressed how looking the part was essential in an interview with ABC News: "It had to look as real as possible, so we spent a lot of time in the makeup chair...Before you know it, everything seems to come together. You put on the right outfit, have the right hairdo, and there you go!"

Michael Douglas Drives Home the Misunderstood Aspects of Liberace in 'Behind the Candelabra'

Liberace was an interesting man, and that drew an actor of Douglas' caliber to the part. His numerous plastic surgeries, wigs, and floridly excessive costume pieces expressed his need to fight Father Time and keep up appearances. At the same time, though, when he was at home with Thorson, he was very much a physically vulnerable and psychologically fragile human. In one scene, Scott surprises Liberace in the bathroom without his wig, wearing only a towel. Douglas, who himself was almost 70, delivers a physically fragile elderly man. The remnants of hair on either side of his head are mussed, and his body is frail. The actor embraced his advanced age and used it to his advantage to show that underneath the wig and bejeweled outfit is a man entering the golden years of his life. Another humorous scene captures Liberace and Scott in bed together after he has had his most recent face-lift. Thorson can't sleep as Liberace is snoring loudly. He rolls over to find him sleeping with his eyes open because the surgery has left him unable to close them, which is both a little eerie and hilarious all at once.

Liberace is portrayed as having a revolving door of young male partners and a healthy appetite for sex. Part of the need to continually keep younger men in his orbit had much to do with his father leaving him and his mother at a young age, as these sexual encounters and vapid, short-lived relationships were the only way he knew how to be the father figure he never had. Scott Thorson never knew his real parents and was moved through foster homes; his relationship with Liberace started out as physical but became more of a father-son dynamic, as neither knew how a real father was supposed to behave.

Douglas plays the part with an underlying element of sadness that also comes from the lofty and unrealistic expectations of his mother, Frances (Debbie Reynolds). No matter what he did or how much success he experienced, he never felt like he was measuring up. When she dies in the film, Douglas has a telling line while speaking to Scott, who is trying to comfort him. He isn't upset but tells Scott softly, "I'm free." Douglas brings Liberace's complexities and nuanced existence to the surface, being awarded a Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy Award for his dead-on portrayal. If Behind the Candelabra had been a big-screen release, there's a fair chance that Douglas would have two Best Actor Oscars on his mantle instead of one.

Behind the Candelabra is available to watch on Max.

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