HOLLYWOOD -- If Hollywood icon Michael Douglas has a love-hate relationship with the press, he must have got up on the right side of the bed this particular morning.

Douglas is all smiles, jokes and jabs at the boys across the pond - those evil reporters at the sleazy British tabloids who went and broke the news last month that the 55-year-old Douglas and his 30-year-old fiancee, Catherine Zeta-Jones, are expecting a child.

"I'm very, very happy" about the pregnancy, said the beaming dad-to-be, holding court in a swank Beverly Hills hotel room to promote his new movie Wonder Boys, opening in theatres Friday.

"Catherine is happy, it's all wonderful. I would have liked to have maybe waited for another month to make the announcement," Douglas said, gritting his teeth, "but things are out of your control."

Things like being virtually stalked by paparazzi, especially in Britain, where Zeta-Jones has been a huge celebrity for years since starring in the saucy early-'90s TV series Darling Buds of May.

"I think we're both a little taken back with this press phenomenon, when you're together with another actress or celebrity," said Douglas.

"This is my first experience with this, and the press seems to go nuts when there's two (celebrities) together, like one and one makes eight. It's just wild.

"The British press are the worst in terms of the tabloid thing, and basically are the springboard for spewing this stuff out around the world."

As candid as Douglas is, the topic of the age difference between him and his sweetheart (Douglas is two years older than Zeta-Jones's own father) is never raised.

But maybe it was an obvious pairing, as Douglas is the Hollywood power broker who won his first Oscar at the age of 30 (for producing best picture winner One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and has raked in untold millions in his more than two dozen starring roles. Who else could he be paired with but one of the most beautiful and fantasized about actresses in the world?

Love must sit well with Douglas, because with Wonder Boys he's decided to show his softer side - literally. He gained 25 pounds to play pot-smoking college professor Grady Tripp, under the direction of Curtis Hanson (behind the lens for the first time since his critically hailed L.A. Confidential.)

"I was reticent in the beginning, but went along with it very fast as I started pigging out." Out of the 25 pounds he gained he's now lost all but eight: "I knew it was not going to be fun losing it."

Douglas says playing the addled professor, who is under pressure from his editor (Robert Downey, Jr.) to finish his 2,600-page novel, was a conscious move away from the suave, suit-wearing characters he's portrayed of late.

"I had just come out of doing two back-to-back Prince of Darkness roles (The Game and A Perfect Murder). I think if one was going to make a career choice, I would definitely want to do something that was lighter and different."

Also starring in Wonder Boys is Frances McDormand as the married university chancellor whom Tripp gets pregnant, Tobey Maguire as an oddball student with untapped talent and Katie Holmes as another student who develops a crush on Tripp.

The movie isn't easy to pigeonhole - a subtle, brainy comedy might be the best description - which was part of the appeal for Douglas, who says he has a hard time finding decent scripts.

"We're in sort of a 1950s hula hoop time, a little goofy, and the world is very simplistic in most of our filmmaking," he said.

The oldtime movies, though, are held in high esteem by Douglas. Especially when it comes to the films starring Douglas's legendary father, Kirk Douglas.

The senior Douglas suffered a life-threatening stroke in January 1996, and has been working since then to regain his mobility and speech. In the upcoming movie Diamonds, his first since the stroke, Douglas plays a retired boxer who has, appropriately enough, suffered a stroke.

"For anybody who's getting close to retirement age, or just generally for anybody, he's a total inspiration," Douglas said of his dad.

"I think he's unbelievable in the movie. It shows what an oldtime movie star really is."

Since his first big break landing the role as inspector Steve Keller in the mid-70s TV series The Streets of San Francisco, Michael Douglas has gone on to become one of the most recognized faces in Hollywood. A sampling of the highlights of his film career:


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