After 43 years, Michael Douglas confirms he instantly liked Kathleen Turner
Forty years later, Michael Douglas is finally telling you what his relationship with co-star Kathleen Turner really was.
He says the secret romance meant late‑night trips down hotel hallways to Kathleen Turner’s room after the crew turned in — so under wraps that Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis didn’t know it was happening. The revelation comes in Michael Douglas’ new memoir, One Helluva Ride, in an excerpt published by People.
In the excerpt, Douglas writes:
“The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship.”
He adds that the two let the world believe they were just friends to protect his then‑wife Diandra and their son Cameron, who was 5 at the time. Douglas also notes he and Diandra were living apart but still legally married during the 1984 shoot for Romancing the Stone.
According to the memoir, when Diandra learned about the affair, she quietly pulled Turner aside on set to remind her the marriage wasn’t over. Turner backed off, and Douglas says the relationship ended soon after.
From affair to friendship
After the first movie became a blockbuster, Turner initially tried to skip the sequel The Jewel of the Nile but was contractually obligated to return. Despite early tension, Douglas writes they smoothed things over and rebuilt a working friendship that lasted decades.
- Romancing the Stone (1984) — the hit that sparked their off‑screen relationship
- The Jewel of the Nile — they reunited despite behind‑the‑scenes friction
- The War of the Roses (1989) — a dark‑comedy reunion with DeVito directing
- The Kominsky Method (2021) — Turner joined Douglas on the Netflix series
Douglas’s personal life moved on as well: he and Diandra divorced in 1995, and he’s been married to Catherine Zeta‑Jones since 2000; they share two children.