Michael Douglas called Kathleen Turner and Jeanne Tripplehorn to get permission to talk about their relationships in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride.
Michael Douglas called Kathleen Turner and Jeanne Tripplehorn to get permission to talk about their relationships in his new memoir.
The 82-year-old actor has spoken publicly about his romance with his Romancing the Stone co-star Kathleen in his new memoir, One Helluva Ride, and he also revealed in the tome he had an affair with Basic Instinct co-star Jeanne while separated from then-wife Diandra Luker, but his co-writer Shane Salerno revealed the Hollywood legend was “incredibly protective” of his former partners and wanted them to be comfortable with what he put in the public domain.
Revealing Michael had got in touch with Kathleen and Jeanne, Shane told People magazine: “He was incredibly protective.”
Michael, who also worked with Michael Fleming Jr. on the book, added: “I didn’t name anybody for the sake of notches on your holster or something like that. These are people that I’ve had relationships with in my life.”
Shane had known the Fatal Attraction actor for years before writing the book and admitted he had spent decades trying to get him to pen a memoir before Michael – who has son Cameron, 47, with Diandra, and Dylan, 26, and Carys, 23, with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones – finally changed his mind.
The Wall Street actor said: “I guess it comes with hitting your 80s and looking at the legacy that my father and I have as two generations — and about 160 or 170 movies in over 80 years. So that was an important part.
“I have grandchildren now, eight and five. They have a little history of their grandfather.
“And I realised it was really helpful to help me remember a lot of things which I had forgotten.”
Michael admitted in One Helluva Ride that he and Kathleen lied about the truth of their love affair for the last 40 years.
He wrote: “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.
“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 went as follows: 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.
“That was a lie.”
The Basic Instinct alum explained that the lie was “meant to protect my wife and son”, and they “told the world for 40 years”.
The 82-year-old star also revealed people “missed” his secret romance with Jeanne amid speculation he was actually dating their Basic Instinct co-star Sharon Stone.
He wrote: “They were so focused on a possible relationship between Sharon and me, they missed the real relationship happening between me and Jeanne.”
Michael noted that the pair “took great pains to hide” their romance “from the cast and crew”.
He added: “[We] spent so many hours together, talking, really getting to know each other, enjoying each other’s company away from the set and everything else in the world.”
Michael Douglas asked Kathleen Turner and Jeanne Tripplehorn to approve memoir revelations
