Michael Douglas has admitted for the first time to a film romance he had while filming and kept secret for 40 years. The Oscar-winning actor, now 82, reveals in his recently published memoir that he and actress Kathleen Turner, now 72, fell in love while filming the 1984 film “Romancing the Stone” in Mexico.
At the time, Douglas was separated from Diandra Luker, his first wife and the mother of his son Cameron. He recounts meeting Turner during the casting process and their immediate connection.
“Kathleen was smart, funny and sexy with a deep, seductive voice that became her signature feature,” he writes, according to an excerpt of the memoir obtained by People. “I liked her immediately and we were immediately drawn to each other.”
"Things at home were in a bad place. Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs... I left for Mexico technically still married, but separated.
The truth is that during the filming of “Romancing the Stone,” Kathleen and I fell in love with each other and began a relationship. It wasn’t a quick relationship. It developed naturally from how closely we were working together, how much pressure we were under, how much we respected and cared for each other, and how attracted we were to each other. Like every other guy in the world at the time, I fell madly in love with Kathleen.
"Kathleen and I never had any problems. We found each other first as friends, then as co-stars, and finally as lovers. After a tiring day of shooting in the jungle, we would go out for a bite to eat, or go out with the group, and then I would sneak into her hotel room after everyone was asleep," the book says.
Douglas says they kept their relationship hidden from everyone - even actor Danny Devito and director Robert Zemeckis.
However, the romance ended when his then-wife visited Mexico and brought their son to the set. “Diandra began to have doubts,” he wrote. “A woman’s intuition, I guess.”
"After that visit, Kathleen and I ended things and I went back to Diandra. I did it for Cameron, but we shouldn't have gotten back together. After the first breakup, things were never the same between us."
The former couple divorced in 2000. Douglas married Catherine Zeta-Jones that same year.
Turner and Douglas reunited to work on several projects after the film "Romancing the Stone," but have denied their relationship for decades.
"The chemistry I had with Kathleen Turner was so strong that the public was sure for years that we were in a relationship during the filming of the film," he writes in his memoir.
The two actors have remained friends to this day, and Douglas writes that he asked Turner for permission to reveal their romance in his book.
In a 2023 interview, Turner told The Guardian about Douglas: “I think we could have fallen in love. But then Diandra came along quickly and made it clear that she didn’t consider Michael available. So that ended it because I can’t be involved in another woman’s relationship. But, God, that attention is wonderful.”
When asked how close she was to dating Douglas, Turner replied at the time: "It's none of your business." ©LAPSI.al
