Michael Douglas has opened up about the brief separation from his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, saying their decision to repair their marriage was mutual rather than a case of him having to “win her back”.

The Hollywood couple, who married in 2000, temporarily went their separate ways in 2013 after years of marriage. Zeta-Jones announced at the time that they were taking time apart to assess their relationship, but the pair later reconciled and have remained together.

Reflecting on the episode in an interview with The Sunday Times, Douglas rejected the suggestion that he was solely responsible for restoring the relationship.

“What, I won her back? It was mutual,” the actor said, according to The Independent. He added that marriage requires considerable effort, noting that although they had experienced difficulties, he still loved his wife and believed they were in a good place.

Douglas, 82, and Zeta-Jones, 57, have two children, Dylan and Carys. Their separation came several months after Douglas faced controversy over comments he made about the cause of his tongue cancer, remarks his publicist later clarified.

The actor is now revisiting several chapters of his personal life in his forthcoming autobiography, One Helluva Ride. According to The Independent, the memoir also discusses Douglas’ first marriage to Diandra Luker, including his admission that he developed feelings for actress Kathleen Turner while they were filming Romancing the Stone in 1984.

Douglas and Luker eventually divorced in 2000, the same year he married Zeta-Jones. In his account of the 2013 separation, Douglas said he never lost hope that he and Zeta-Jones would eventually reconcile.