Hollywood star Michael Douglas experienced a hair-raising moment during a roof wetting ceremony at the new Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art.

Mr. Douglas, 62, briefly lost his footing while in a cherry picker basket 25 feet up in the air, which was swaying in a stiff breeze. Luckily, the star of Falling Down — <$>who is worth an estimated $200 million — quickly steadied himself and christened the building by pouring rum over it in the traditional manner.

“I had a good laugh and stumbled. I had a little moment!” he quipped to The Royal Gazette, explaining he had plenty of experience of heights from filming movies.

Mr. Douglas, who owns a home in Warwick with wife Catherine Zeta Jones, is a long-term supporter of the $9 million project to bring the new museum to the Botanical Gardens.

Having donned a Super Star novelty builder’s hat yesterday along with other VIPs to celebrate the roof wetting, he said he was delighted to see the project coming to fruition.

“It’s pretty extraordinary. It’s a deceptively large space. It will be a wonderful asset for the Island,” he said, praising those behind it for their energy. “It will add another colour and layer to life in Bermuda.”

The venue, which is set to open next October, will be the first permanent home to the Bermudiana Collection, comprising of over 1,000 works depicting the Island from artists including Winslow Homer and Georgia O’Keeffe. Mr. Douglas also said he was pleased that the Botanical Gardens surrounding the museum have been saved from development.

Reflecting on the furore in August after news that the new hospital was going to be built there — and relief when new Health Minister Nelson Bascome publicly cancelled the plan this month — he said: “The people have spoken. It was a clear, strong outcry.”

With the final choice of venue postponed until further research is completed, Mr. Douglas said he personally favoured bringing in a hospital ship while the facility is re-built on the current Paget site.

Welcoming the latest step along the path to opening the doors of the Masterworks Museum, director Tom Butterfield said visitors would be able to soak up the greatest treasures of the Island.

“It’s going to be magic when it’s finished,” he promised.

Fundraising to meet the last $2 million of the $9 million needed to open the museum is still underway.