Michael Douglas Makes Bold Kathleen Turner Confession After 40 Years

Michael Douglas just made a bold confession about his relationship with former co-star Kathleen Turner after 40 years.

In the ’80s, Douglas and Turner starred together in three films: Romancing the Stone (1984), its sequel The Jewel of the Nile (1985), and the unrelated black comedy, The War of the Roses (1989). (Danny DeVito also starred in all three movies.) Additionally, the pair appeared on Seasons 2 and 3 of The Kominsky Method in 2021.

For four decades, Douglas, 82, and Turner, 72, denied ever having struck up a romantic relationship despite their intense on-camera chemistry. Douglas finally revealed the truth in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride.

“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,” Douglas wrote, per People. “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.”

The “official story” he and Turner told went something like this: “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.”

Turner then declared, “That was a lie.”

As Douglas explained, this falsehood was “meant to protect my wife and son.” (He was married to Diandra Luker from 1977 to 2000, and they share a son, Cameron Douglas.)

He then recalled, “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.”

Additionally, Douglas claimed that he and Turner “never hit a rough spot,” as their relationship blossomed from friends to co-stars to “lovers.”

He recounted: “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. There were no cameras in elevators, no assistants using cell phones to take pictures. As Jack and Joan were falling in love, Kathleen and I were keeping the chemistry alive. We kept our involvement hidden. Even [the director] Bob [Zemeckis] and [co-star] Danny were unaware.”

Ultimately, the love affair ended after Luker brought Cameron to visit Douglas while filming in Mexico. Although Douglas and Luker were separated, she suspected something was going on between her husband and Turner and confronted the actress. “This gave Kathleen pause. She didn’t want to interfere,” he explained.

After divorcing Luker more than a decade later, Douglas said “I do” to Catherine Zeta-Jones in 2000, and they are still married today. He and Zeta-Jones share two children, Dylan Douglas and Carys Zeta Douglas. Meanwhile, Turner was most recently married to Jay Weiss from 1984 to 2007; they share a daughter, Rachel Weiss.

One Helluva Ride will be released on October 6.

Romancing the Stone, streaming on Tubi and Philo; The Jewel of the Nile and The War of the Roses, available for purchase on multiple streaming services