In new book, actor Michael Douglas says he kept his romance with co-star Kathleen Turner secret for 40 years
- Last updated: October 4, 2026 | 13:24
Michael Douglas is owning up to an on-set romance that he has kept secret for 40 years.
The Oscar-winning actor, now 82, revealed in his new memoir One Helluva Ride that he and his former co-star Kathleen Turner, now 72, fell in love while filming the 1984 blockbuster Romancing the Stone in Mexico.
At the time, Douglas — who has been married to Catherine Zeta-Jones since 2000 — was separated from Diandra Luker, his first wife and the mother of his son Cameron. He recalled meeting Turner during the casting process and hitting it off rightaway.
“Kathleen was smart, funny, and sexy with a deep, sultry voice that became her signature,” he wrote, according to an excerpt of the memoir obtained by People. “I instantly liked her, and we were immediately attracted to each other. “
The Fatal Attraction actor continued: “Things at home were in a bad place. Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs... I left for Mexico still technically married, but separated.”
He continued: “The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship. 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.”
“Kathleen and I never hit a rough spot,” he wrote. “We found each other first as friends, then as co-stars, and finally as lovers. Following an exhausting day of shooting in the jungle, we’d go out and have a meal, or head out with the group and afterward I would sneak into her hotel room after everybody was asleep.”
Douglas said that they kept their affair hidden from everyone — even their co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis.
However, the romance ended when Luker visited Mexico and brought their son to set. “Diandra grew suspicious,” he wrote. “A woman’s intuition, I suppose.”
After a conversation where Luker reminded Turner that Douglas was still her husband, Turner said that she did not want to interfere.
“After that visit, Kathleen and I ended things, and I went back to Diandra,” he said. “I did it for Cameron, but we shouldn’t have gotten back together. After that first split it was never the same between us ever again.” The former couple went on to divorce in 2000. Douglas went on to marry Catherine Zeta-Jones that same year.
Turner and Douglas reunited to work on several projects after Romancing the Stone, but have denied their fling for decades.
“The chemistry I had with Kathleen Turner was so strong, audiences have been certain for years that we were in a relationship together while making the film,” he wrote in the memoir. “We both denied it through Romancing The Stone, Jewel of the Nile, War of the Roses, and even while doing press a few years ago for The Kominsky Method.”
Douglas wrote that their “official story” was that the two actors had chemistry and flirted, but that nothing had ever happened between them. He continued: “That was a lie.”
The two actors have remained friends to this day, and Douglas wrote that he asked Turner for permission to include their romance in his book.
In an interview in 2023, Turner told The Guardian about Douglas: “I think we might have been falling in love. But then Diandra flew down and made it clear that she did not consider Michael to be available. So that ended that because I can’t get involved with another woman’s relationship. But oh my, that attention is delicious.”
When asked how close she came to dating Douglas, Turner replied at the time: “None of your business.”
The Independent