Lynn Hirschberg‘s New York profile of Behind The Candelabra star Michael Douglas is typical for her — not fawning but fair, smoothly written, sharp observations. But here’s what got me: “[Douglas] took out his iPhone. ‘Look at this,’ he said. It was an ecstatic e-mail about another one of Douglas’s upcoming films, Last Vegas, in which he plays an about-to-be-married bachelor out for a final hurrah with his buddies (played by, among others, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline) in Las Vegas. The film had tested through the roof.

“Douglas looked a little stunned. ‘I had a great time making it, and that always worries me. It usually means the movie will bomb.’ He looked back at his phone. ‘It’s hard to get excited, but I’ve been down so long, things are starting to look up.'”

“I’ve been down so long” — I know that tune. Stopping drinking and getting on top of other threatening habits makes you feel better about things in general, but once you’ve gone through any kind of serious career downturn the memory never really leaves you. You can get into a good groove again and everything can seem well, but you’ll never really trust in serendipity again. You don’t trust that things are going to work out. You’re always looking for the trap door.

CBS Films is opening Last Vegas on 11.1.13.