When at First You Do Succeed . . .

Curtis Hanson and Michael Douglas know all about being wonder boys--and age has nothing to do with it.

Which partly explains why writer-director Hanson, 54, took everyone by surprise three years ago with the critically acclaimed and Oscar-winning police thriller “L.A. Confidential,” displaying a craftsmanship brimming with dramatic intensity and social relevance.

By contrast, Douglas, 55, first rose to fame 25 years ago with his cunning filmmaking debut as the Oscar-winning producer of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1975, and again in the late 1980s as a cutting-edge movie star. He not only won the best actor Oscar for his flashy role as greedy corporate raider Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street,” but he also tapped into a volatile undercurrent of post-feminist rage as the duplicitous husband in “Fatal Attraction,” both from 1987.

Now Hanson and Douglas have teamed for “Wonder Boys,” the quirky Paramount comedy opening Friday that explores the paralyzing fear that often accompanies sudden success. The film’s theme applies to a slew of wonder boys associated with the film, beginning with Michael Chabon, author of the celebrated novel of the same name; he scored his first triumph with “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” which had critics heralding him as a future literary lion. Then screenwriter Steve Kloves (of “The Fabulous Baker Boys” fame) adapted Chabon’s work before Hanson and Douglas got hooked.

Douglas plays English professor Grady Tripp, who’s stuck on his second novel after the dizzying acclaim of his first, written seven years before. All of that explodes over one crazy weekend (the film, like the book, is set in Pittsburgh) when he’s forced to turn his life and career around. The ensemble includes Tobey Maguire as a lonely and morbid wonder boy in training, stuck in his own rut; Frances McDormand as Tripp’s lover--she’s also the dean of Tripp’s university--who discovers she’s pregnant; and Robert Downey Jr. as his sarcastic editor and wonder boy comrade.

It’s no accident that Hanson and Douglas were attracted to the script because of the autobiographical parallels. Earlier this month, they discussed their wonder boy experiences at Hanson’s Santa Monica office, where he’s been editing a music video featuring Bob Dylan’s new song “Things Have Changed,” written for the film.

In person you’d swear that Hanson was the real Grady Tripp, with his ruffled hair and turtleneck. (Hanson is chairman of the UCLA Film and Television Archive.) And to draw a further connection between the two, the Royal typewriter beside Hanson’s desk is the one Douglas uses in the film when he begins work on a new novel.

Question: Talk about life imitating art and art imitating life. How did it feel to be wonder boys making a film about wonder boys?

Douglas: I’m so split as a wonder boy, first as a producer winning the Oscar my first time out with “Cuckoo’s Nest.” I remember all of us after that saying, “Well, it’s all downhill from here,” and many of us taking about a year and a half promoting the film around the world and putting off doing anything else.

But producing for me just came out of the opportunity of my dad [actor Kirk Douglas] having the property before, so my honest career, which is acting, took a lot longer to develop. So basically producing allowed me to get a lot better jobs as an actor. But it wasn’t for me until my 40s, when “Fatal Attraction” and “Wall Street” gave me success. So I was beyond a wonder boy at that point.

Hanson: As far as the success thing, what “Wonder Boys” means to me kind of cuts across age. It’s what happens when [success] hits you. It’s funny, I think Michael and I are sort of opposite in this regard. I worked so long and so hard to get the opportunity to direct anything--let alone the pictures that I wanted to do--that by the time I was fortunate enough to enjoy the success of “L.A. Confidential,” I felt liberated by it. It would give me the leverage to do another labor of love.

Q: The fact that you got a studio to make it must be very gratifying for both of you since it’s not a safe movie, despite Michael’s star power. You’d be hard-pressed to call this a commercial movie, between shooting a dog, the pot smoking and an adulterous affair.

Hanson: Movie stars are beginning to complain about wanting to do more movies with substance, and Michael was the motor that got this made by doing what he had to do financially.

Douglas: My approach was just a conscious choice from doing two prince-of-darkness roles back to back [“The Game” and “A Perfect Murder”], with two guys who seemed to have it all, very contained, looking for something more fun or different. So I saw this screenplay and thought it was just really, really good writing. And I guess coming from a producing background, I thought this was a really good movie with wonderful humor, aside from whether it was a good part.

Q: [to Hanson] Michael is obviously a movie star who likes taking risks, but how did you come to think of him when casting Grady?

Hanson: That’s one of the advantages of coming to the script first. I didn’t have any physical preconceptions about any of the characters. I’m thinking of the essence of the character and who can best capture it. What excited me about that was the casting, which is always such a pleasure, because working with actors is what I like best about directing. And I try to do it as both a moviegoer and a movie maker.

And with Michael, like anybody you’ve seen over the years and you think you know, there is a whole other side to him when you get to know him personally. So I wanted to explore that vulnerable side and also the funnier side.

Douglas: The goofball side. I had to gain a little weight, but we were going for the spirit of the character, and I think we captured that.

Hanson: What also really attracted me was the attitude of acceptance toward this odd group of characters. If you dissect their actions, they are not politically correct. But there is such an attitude of acceptance about them and toward the human condition, that it gives the whole thing a warmth and makes you care. And that’s what makes it funny.

Q: [to Hanson] The wonder boy theme permeates everything in the movie, doesn’t it?

Hanson: Michael, Robert Downey, Tobey, they’re all wonder boys at different phases. The other thing about them, including Frances’ character, is that they are all yearning for love, family, human connection, and they’re all conflicted about it or afraid of it. The funny thing is you have Grady, without knowing it, rehearsing for fatherhood in his goofy relationship with James Leer [played by Maguire].

Q: [to Douglas] Which brings up the whole parallel with your recent engagement to Catherine Zeta-Jones and the announcement of her having a baby. That must’ve been strange.

Douglas: I wasn’t really aware of this whole thing obviously until later when I saw the film and said, “Huh, what an interesting little parallel this is.”

We only saw each other sporadically. I met her [at the Deauville Film Festival] in September ’98 [when she was promoting “The Mask of Zorro”]. We started shooting in January ’99. She was making “The Haunting,” so we weren’t both free until the end of May when we went to Spain.

Q: [to Douglas] Any plans to work together?

Douglas: Sure. She’s a very talented actress and hasn’t begun to show all the things she can do, so I look forward to it and the baby.

Q: [to Hanson] Obviously the connection to your own situation wasn’t lost on you.

Hanson: It was the characters that got me interested for the very reasons you suggested. I got very emotionally involved with the major characters. I identified with each of them. I mean, had it just been specifically a story about a writer having creative problems, it might have been interesting to me, but I wouldn’t have wanted to make it into a movie. It hit me about halfway through shooting that it appears to be very different from “L.A. Confidential,” but in one way it is very similar, which is that it’s a picture about a small group of characters, each of whom is trying to figure out how to live their lives and to make choices. The difference is that these characters are funny.

Q: [to Douglas] What was it like playing such an unconventional role?

Douglas: I feel really blessed that there are people who allow you to do that. I had this particular piece of material and a director who created an environment. Because there were a couple of times you sat around in a pink woman’s bathrobe [they start laughing again] when you start to think, I really like this guy. “Am I OK, Curtis?” “Yes, you’re OK, Michael.” So it was a great feeling of security. One nice thing I started thinking about was liberal arts colleges. They haven’t really changed very much. I think they sort of have this isolated . . .

Hanson: Feeling of sanctuary.

Douglas: Feeling of sanctuary. Music, dance, painting, theater, creative writing. You always had this unique relationship between faculty members, slightly bohemian. And the students. They’re always off in one part of campus together. You know, all the choices that Curtis made were right there in Pittsburgh--and I hadn’t felt since “Cuckoo’s Nest” the advantage of being in one location, where you don’t go home at night and you don’t have another life.

Q: [to Hanson] Pittsburgh has its own aura with a wonderful timelessness of being stuck in the past, reinforced by all the cultural references.

Hanson: Pittsburgh became the film’s visual metaphor. Not only because of its interesting architecture but because I noticed the presence of the three rivers and that it has more bridges than any other city. All of these characters are trying to figure out how to get from here to there. It has a glorious past that is now burned out.

It’s all keyed on Grady [who’s in] this timeless haze, self-medicating with the pot smoking and this sort of sanctuary of the college that encourages people drifting.

Q: [to Douglas] What was different about working with Curtis than other directors?

Douglas: Curtis has a unique rhythm where he lets you go at a slow pace, not afraid of pregnant pauses. But when you come to him with a question that he can’t answer, he isn’t afraid to admit it. That kind of vulnerability makes you feel comfortable.

Hanson: The unexpected benefit of that environment was--and it starts with Michael, but it goes beyond Michael--providing actors with the opportunity to do their best work. And that’s what Michael is describing. We got into our own little world, and we felt protected. That’s what I’m most proud of in the performances, what one might call nakedness.

Q: [to Hanson] The very moving tribute to Billy Wilder that you recently hosted here in town reinforced how he succeeded in being a mainstream maverick. Aren’t you and Michael mainstream mavericks as well?

Douglas: Responsible mavericks.

Hanson: The Billy Wilder thing was felicitous in a couple of ways. First of all, my favorite movie humor comes out of his serious situations and serious performances that make you laugh. The other thing is, which literally came into my head as I was up at the podium watching Billy watching the clips that skipped through his career, was that this guy, with all of the phenomenal success that he enjoyed, fought the battles that we all have to fight.

And he lost some of those battles that I have lost, with movies retitled and re-cut. And in a way I found comfort in that feeling of brotherhood. It puts it in perspective. No matter how it feels, things are changing in this business, there are certain basic things that remain the same.