Michael Douglas writes in a new memoir that he had an affair with a co-star during the making of the 1992 thriller “Basic Instinct” and was prepared to end his marriage over it, according to a Fox News report published Tuesday.
The co-star was not Sharon Stone, his on-screen love interest, whom many at the time believed he was involved with. Fox News, citing Page Six’s account of the book, reported that the 82-year-old actor names Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played police psychologist Dr. Beth Garner in the film.
Douglas writes in the memoir, titled “One Helluva Ride,” that he fell hard for Tripplehorn despite an age gap of nearly 20 years and was ready to formally leave his wife for her. “I was crazy about her,” he writes.
Douglas was married at the time to his first wife, Diandra Luker.
Fox News reported that he has said the two were separated and living separate lives.
According to the book, the relationship with Tripplehorn lasted through production and ended when filming did. He describes her warmly, calling her a fine actress and a woman he was fortunate to spend time with.
The memoir also confirms a second on-set relationship, Fox News reported.
Douglas writes that he and Kathleen Turner became involved while making the 1984 film “Romancing the Stone,” ending more than 40 years of denials by both actors. In an excerpt Fox News attributed to People, he says the relationship was not a passing fling and grew out of how closely the two were working and the pressure they were under.
Douglas writes that the pair lied about the relationship to protect Luker and their son, Cameron, and hid it from the film’s cast and crew as well, slipping into each other’s rooms after the day’s shooting.
He says he and Luker were technically married but separated when he left to make the film. The relationship ended, according to the book, after Luker visited the set with Cameron and made clear to Turner that the couple were still married. The denials continued through the film’s sequel and the pair’s later reunion on “The Kominsky Method.”
Luker filed for divorce in 1995, and the divorce was finalized in 2000 after 23 years of marriage. Douglas married actress Catherine Zeta-Jones in November 2000. They have two children, Dylan, 26, and Carys, 23.
The Fox News report draws on accounts of the book from Page Six and People and includes no comment from Tripplehorn, Turner or Luker.
