Michael Douglas didn’t just choose Catherine Zeta-Jones — he called five other women in one day to make sure she was the only one.
The two-time Oscar winner pulls back the curtain on his extraordinary life in his new memoir, "One Helluva Ride," revealing his struggle to escape his father Kirk Douglas’ towering shadow, his past affairs and drug use, his terrifying battle with stage IV cancer — and the highs and lows of his decades-long love story with the actress.
Douglas first fell head over heels for Zeta-Jones when she caught his eye in the 1998 movie "The Mask of Zorro." Douglas, who is 25 years older than Zeta-Jones, later came across an interview in which she said she liked older men. He thought he had a chance.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS CONFIRMS SECRET AFFAIR WITH KATHLEEN TURNER ON 'ROMANCING THE STONE' SET
Douglas went on to meet Zeta-Jones at the Deauville Film Festival in France . As the evening came to an end, Douglas blurted out, "I'm going to be the father of your children."
Fox News may be compensated for or earn a commission if you buy through our referral links.
Zeta-Jones wasn't exactly swept off her feet. She knew about Douglas’ reputation as a Hollywood womanizer and remained wary of his intentions. Douglas, however, was determined to convince her that this time he was serious.
Eventually, Zeta-Jones was willing to give Douglas a chance, but under one condition: he needed to be monogamous.
WATCH: MICHAEL DOUGLAS SHARES LESSONS ON CANCER, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY
"I'm not interested in dating you if you're dating other people," she told him. "You can either continue with them or end it and be with me."
That day, Douglas wrote , he made five phone calls to five women he was seeing who lived in different cities.
"Just after my marriage , I had been seeing five other women," he wrote. "They knew I was recently separated and in the process of getting a divorce. I made sure they all lived in different cities, which felt like a respectful way to be nonmonogamous. None of them asked for a commitment or even asked what else I was up to. I am sure they were seeing other people, too."
He told each woman he had met someone and could no longer see her. According to Douglas, "they all took it well."
The couple married in 2000. They welcomed their son, Dylan, that year, followed by their daughter, Carys, in 2003. Today, the couple split their time between New York, Mallorca and Santa Barbara.
But their Hollywood love story hasn’t always been picture-perfect.
In the book, Douglas wrote that in 2013, the couple went on vacation and, upon returning, "had a heart-to-heart" about their relationship.
"We had been married for more than a decade," Douglas recalled. "We had just gone through a period where a number of challenges came at us all at once. We decided to take some time apart. We still loved each other immensely, but we needed to make sure that being married was the right thing for all of us."
GET ENTERTAINMENT SCOOP DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BY CLICKING HERE
"The entire ordeal was incredibly difficult," Douglas wrote. "Catherine and I have a very intense, deep love for each other. And we love our kids dearly. We worked hard to make sure they understood that this wasn't their fault. It wasn't anyone's fault. I had learned the hard way that staying together for the children isn't always the right course of action. Sometimes you need to take a step back and make sure you're doing what's best for your whole family."
Douglas and Zeta-Jones had weathered an extraordinarily difficult stretch for their family.
In 2010, Douglas was diagnosed with cancer . That same year, his eldest son, Cameron Douglas, was battling addiction and was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to drug charges. At the same time, Douglas was embroiled in a legal dispute with his ex-wife, Diandra Luker, over proceeds from "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps."
In his memoir, Douglas acknowledged that the mounting pressure took a toll on his wife, writing that "all of that stress" was "heaped onto" Zeta-Jones.
Zeta-Jones and the couple’s two children, Dylan and Carys, stayed in the family’s home in Bedford, New York. Douglas rented another place nearby so he could still see the children. He and Zeta-Jones "spoke regularly, but not every day."
"Part of taking a break is actually taking a break, something Diandra and I had struggled to do productively," he wrote of his past marriage.
LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
"It was hard on the kids, and they were so strong during the entire ordeal," Douglas wrote. "They knew that we both loved them more than anything, and their trust in us never wavered."
As Douglas navigated the separation, he wrote that he never gave up hope that he and Zeta-Jones would reconcile.
"I love Catherine in a way that I have never loved any other woman," he wrote. "She's my wife, my best friend, and my life partner. I could never lose her."
"As Catherine and I were seeing each other more surrounding the kids — school functions, drop-offs, extracurricular activities — we realized we both missed each other enormously," he wrote. "Taking time away helped reignite the spark that had brought us together."
The couple reconciled in 2014.
"Thank God we found our way back to each other," Douglas wrote. "Our marriage deserved a second chance. Today, our marriage is stronger than ever, and we recently celebrated our 25 th wedding anniversary. We still love spending time together. We can play 18 holes or walk on the beach, or we can just sit on the couch all day long talking. After all these years, wherever we are in the world, Catherine Zeta-Jones is still an incredible date."
PUT YOUR ENTERTAINMENT KNOWLEDGE TO THE TEST AND SEE HOW YOU SCORE
After decades together, Douglas told Fox News Digital he has learned a major lesson about making a marriage last in Hollywood.
"Making that person, that partner, as special as 25 years later," he said. "Make her feel as special 25 years later as the first day you started wooing her. What happens sometimes, after a while, is compatibility, and we end up making more of an effort with strangers than the person closest to you. So, I think it really calls for mutual respect and a good sense of humor."
When asked what Zeta-Jones, 57, does that still makes him feel like the luckiest guy in the world, he didn't miss a beat.
"Walk into a room," he said with a smile.