Michael Douglas: American actors not sexy enough for top roles

British and Australian actors like Christian Bale, Chris Hemsworth and Henry Cavill are snatching up all the leading roles in Hollywood.

Oscar-winning actor Michael Douglas has spoken out about the current crop of American actors, accusing them of being too asexual and image-obsessed to get the top jobs.

Douglas, who is currently promoting his supporting role in Ant-Man, made the comments in an interview with The Independent.

He says that American actors focus more on their image than they do on perfecting their skill.

"There's a crisis in young American actors right now. Everyone's much more image conscious than they are about actually playing the part.

"In Britain they take their training seriously while in the States we're going through a sort of social media image conscious thing rather than formal training. Many actors are getting caught up in this image thing which is going on to affect their range."

His comments came just days after an Observer article highlighted similar faults in the American system. Recent casting choices, such as British actor Tom Holland being cast as the new Spider-Man, and David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr. have shone a spotlight on the lack of American options.

But Douglas has also spotted another issue: American actors just aren't sexy enough.

"With the Aussies, particularly with the males, it's the masculinity. In the US we have this relatively asexual or unisex area with sensitive young men and we don't have many Channing Tatums or Chris Pratts, while the Aussies do. It's a phenomena."

While they have not dominated roles as much as the Brits, Australian actors like Chris and Liam Hemsworth, Sam Worthington and Jason Clarke are nabbing big film roles, while ex-Home and Away and Neighbours actors are getting numerous TV roles.

Michael Douglas, right, as Hank Pym in Ant-Man. Possibly in the scene where he tells Paul Rudd they should've gotten someone hotter.

Douglas also said he disagrees with Dustin Hoffman's recent comments that the film industry is at its worst, saying that the problem is that the same talent is moving to new forms of storytelling.

"Most of the great screen writers have gone into the cable area because that's where they can also produce. The problem in making a film for cinema is the cost of distribution. People can scrape together money for a movie but not the advertising."

Ant-Man is in cinemas next week.

- nzherald.co.nz