Michael Douglas has admitted that he had an affair with his Romancing the Stone co-star Kathleen Turner while making the 1984 action caper. The 82-year-old included the revelation in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, detailing how he kept the romance a secret for four decades.
In the One Helluva Ride excerpt, he recalled the ‘magic spell’ of their romance, describing Turner as ‘smart, funny and sexy’. Douglas is now married to Catherine Zeta-Jones, but was with his first wife Diandra Luker at the time, who filed for divorce from him in 1995. He has claimed in his new memoir that they were separated at the time and, according to Douglas, ‘both having extramarital affairs’.
Details of the affair
While filming the Colombian treasure hunt flick, Douglas has claimed the actors were ‘immediately attracted to each other’ and ‘fell hard’, in the excerpt published by People. 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 went on to say the relationship was kept hidden from co-star Danny DeVito, director Robert Zemeckis and everyone else on set, describing it as a ‘fly-by-night affair’. He said the romance ended when his wife visited the Mexico set with their son Cameron. ‘Diandra grew suspicious,’ wrote Douglas. ‘A woman’s intuition, I suppose. At some point, she was alone with Kathleen and made it clear to her that we were still married. Her view of the terms of our separation was different from mine.’
Turner’s response
Turner has addressed the excerpt in a statement provided to People, in which she did not deny the affair. She said: ‘Good heavens what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book.’
The actors went on to co-star in the Romancing the Stone sequel, The Jewel of the Nile in 1985, as well as The War of the Roses and The Kominsky Method. In the years since, Turner alluded to their excellent chemistry on screen but denied ever pursuing an affair. She told People in 2021: ‘I was yearning, babe, but he was still married. ‘It was that wonderful sexual tension. When you really, really know you want somebody – and I’m saying it went both ways – and you can’t have them.’
Turner called Douglas’ attention ‘delicious’ in a Guardian interview in 2023, in which she also referred to the on-set conversation with his then-wife. She said: ‘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.’
Metro contacted Kathleen Turner’s representative for comment. A representative for Diandra Luker was not immediately available.
