Kathleen Turner is taking Michael Douglas’ long-delayed admission about their romance in stride. Douglas reveals in his upcoming memoir, One Helluva Ride, that he and Turner became lovers while making the 1984 adventure-comedy Romancing the Stone in Mexico, ending decades of public denials about whether their famous onscreen chemistry ever became something more.
Turner, now 72, responded briefly to People. “Good heavens, what a fuss about something 40 years ago!” she said. “I love Michael, and I look forward to enjoying the book.”
Douglas, 82, writes that he and Turner had denied the relationship for years, including through Romancing the Stone, The Jewel of the Nile, The War of the Roses and more recent press appearances.
“The official story went as follows: Yes, we confessed, we had amazing chemistry. Yes, we were both, as Kathleen said, ‘terrible flirts,’ and yes, we were both tempted, but nothing ever happened between us,” Douglas writes.
Then he adds: “That was a lie.”
Douglas says the secrecy was intended to protect his then-wife, Diandra Douglas, and their son Cameron. According to the memoir excerpt, he and Turner began as friends and co-stars before becoming romantically involved on set.
REELated:
Zendaya goes full martial arts hero for On
He recalls that after long filming days, they would go to dinner or spend time with the group before he would later visit Turner’s hotel room.
Douglas writes that the affair ended after Diandra and Cameron visited the Mexico set and Diandra made clear to Turner that, despite the couple’s separation, she still viewed herself and Douglas as married.
“After that visit, Kathleen and I ended things, and I went back to Diandra,” Douglas writes. “I did it for Cameron, but we shouldn’t have gotten back together.”
Turner had previously acknowledged that she had hoped something romantic might happen between them, saying in an earlier interview that Douglas was still married at the time, even though he and Diandra were separated.
The revelation adds a new layer to one of the most enduring screen partnerships of the 1980s. Turner and Douglas became closely associated through Romancing the Stone, The Jewel of the Nile and The War of the Roses, with audiences long assuming there was more than acting behind the chemistry.
Apparently, they were right.
