Michael Douglas has confirmed, in his upcoming memoir “One Helluva Ride,” that he and Kathleen Turner had an affair while filming “Romancing the Stone” in 1984 — a relationship the two had denied for more than 40 years.
Douglas, 82, wrote in an excerpt obtained by People that he was drawn to Turner from the start of filming. “Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature,” he wrote. “I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other.”
At the time, Douglas was married to Diandra Luker, though he says the marriage was already strained. “Things at home were in a bad place,” he wrote, adding that he and Luker “were both having extramarital affairs.” He said he left home for the shoot “still technically married, but separated.”
For decades, Douglas and Turner publicly maintained that despite obvious on-screen chemistry, and even tempting feelings, nothing happened between them — a story they stuck to through the film’s sequel and later their reunion on “The Kominsky Method.” Douglas now says that account was false.
“The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship,” he wrote. “It wasn’t a fly-by night affair; it grew naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for one another, and how attracted we were to each other. Like every other guy in the world at the time, I was knocked sideways by Kathleen.”
Douglas said the relationship was kept secret even from the film’s director, Bob Zemeckis, and co-star Danny DeVito. He described dinners together after filming and sneaking into Turner’s hotel room “after everybody was asleep.” “There were no cameras in elevators, no assistants using cell phones to take pictures,” he wrote. “As Jack and Joan were falling in love, Kathleen and I were keeping the chemistry alive.”
The affair ended, according to Douglas, after Luker visited the set with their son Cameron and made clear to Turner that she and Douglas were still married.
Douglas said he and Turner chose to keep the relationship private for 40 years to protect Luker and Cameron. Following the memoir reports, Turner offered a brief statement to People: “Good heavens what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.”
In “Romancing the Stone,” Turner played romance novelist Joan, who travels to Colombia to rescue her sister and teams up with bird hunter Jack Colton, played by Douglas.
Luker filed for divorce in 1995; the divorce was finalized in 2000 after 23 years of marriage. Douglas wrote that “after that first split it was never the same between us ever again.” He married actress Catherine Zeta-Jones that November and has two children with her, son Dylan, 26, and daughter Carys, 23.
