Michael Douglas "plans" his life a lot more now he is getting older.

Michael Douglas

Michael Douglas

The 'Basic Instinct' star is always getting "teased" by his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their children - Carys, 15, and Dylan, 18 - for scheduling holidays and days out but he says it is important to do so as he knows his time is "finite" now.

He said: "The upside of ageing is that you choose how you spend your time much more carefully. Rather than just going with the flow you wake up in the morning and you think about what you are going to do that week and how you are going to spend your time.

"The kids and Catherine always tease me because I am planning holidays three and six months ahead. There's much more planning your time because all of a sudden, you don't have this infinite amount of time. Your time is finite now."

However, the 74-year-old actor - who also has son Cameron, 40, with his ex-wife Diandra Luker - admits he finds it "tough" to remember lines from his movie scripts.

He added: "Memory is tough. Memorising lines takes longer and I don't like that anxious feeling that you don't have it locked in. But hey, I am 74 and in most jobs they kick you out at 65. So I love what I am doing and it keeps me going. I can only play so much golf."

Michael's father is Hollywood star Kirk Douglas and he admits there are big "advantages" to being the second generation of actors.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Michael shared: "The biggest advantage of being second generation is that when you start your own acting career you have grown up seeing your dad with Tony Curtis, Frank Sinatra and Gregory Peck at home, and you have seen their insecurities and what they worry about. You see them as real people and it helps you to have a better understanding about the business."