For four decades, Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have maintained the same version: there was strong on-screen chemistry between them, but not a love affair. Now Douglas admits that this was not true. The actor talks about their relationship in his memoir One Helluva Ride, which is due to be released on October 6, 2026.
The relationship began during the filming of “Romance of the Stone“ in Mexico. The film was released in 1984 and turned Douglas and Turner into one of the most memorable screen couples of the decade. In an excerpt from the memoir, published by People, Douglas describes the attraction as immediate and their relationship as something that gradually developed from a close friendship and professional partnership to love.
“It was a lie“, Douglas writes of their public denials.
At the time, the actor was separated from his wife Diandra Luker, but the two were still officially married. They have a son, Cameron. According to Douglas, the relationship between the spouses was already seriously shaken and both had affairs outside of marriage. Before getting close to Turner, he also had a relationship with the film's screenwriter Diane Thomas.
The relationship remained hidden from the crew
Douglas says that after the filming days were over, the two spent time together, and he secretly visited Turner's hotel room. According to his story, neither director Robert Zemeckis nor Danny DeVito suspected their relationship.
Everything changed when Diandra arrived in Mexico with their son. She spoke privately with Turner and reminded her that despite her separation from Douglas, the two were still married. After that, Turner ended the relationship because she did not want to interfere in someone else's marriage.
Douglas returned to his wife, later explaining his decision with the desire to protect Cameron. According to his account, however, the family relations never regained their former closeness and the marriage later ended in divorce.
The on-screen partnership continued
The end of the romantic story did not put an end to the professional relationship between the two actors. They partnered again in “Diamond of the Nile“ in 1985, and in 1989 they starred together in “The War of the Roses“. They later met on-screen in the series “The Kominsky Method“.
Turner had spoken publicly about her feelings for Douglas even before his confession. In an interview with the „Guardian“ in 2023, she said that the two "maybe were starting to fall in love" but that Diandra's visit ended the rapprochement.
With his new memoir, Douglas is changing the public version of one of the most talked-about on-screen couples of the 1980s. According to him, the chemistry that viewers saw in the film was not just acting.
Source: People