Actor Michael Douglas has called Matt Damon “clever” for suggesting he'll really be kissing Douglas' wife Catherine Zeta-Jones when the pair lock lips in the upcoming Liberace biopic.

The 66-year-old Douglas is preparing to play flamboyant pianist Liberace opposite Damon, who'll play the part of Scott Thorson, Liberace's alleged lover.

Acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh will direct the film based on a script by Richard LaGravenese, which is based on Thorson's book Behind the Candelabra (My Life With Liberace.)

In an appearance on ABC's The View, Douglas said filming would begin in the fall and applauded Damon for suggesting to PEOPLE.COM that the pair wouldn't actually be kissing each other.

“Matt was so clever,” Douglas told the show's female co-hosts. “Matt said, 'Listen this is the way I look at it. When I kiss Michael Douglas – its algebra – I'm kissing Michael Douglas and I'm going through him and I'm kissing his wife.'”

Barbara Walters remarked: “I would have let you practice with me.”

Already filming is the Clint Eastwood-directed J. Edgar, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and Armie Hammer as his alleged lover. Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black recently promised a 'tender' kiss for the co-stars.