Michael Douglas has disclosed in his new memoir One Helluva Ride that he engaged in a secret affair with co-star Jeanne Tripplehorn during the filming of Basic Instinct.
The 82-year-old actor writes that he fell hard for Tripplehorn while making the classic 1992 erotic thriller, which was directed by Paul Verhoeven. The film centered on a cat-and-mouse game between a police detective played by Douglas and a murder suspect played by Sharon Stone.
While the intense chemistry between Douglas and Stone led to feverish public speculation of a real-life fling at the time, Douglas reveals his actual romantic affections lay elsewhere. Tripplehorn played his character's police psychologist and love interest in the movie.
"The truth is, I fell very hard for Jeanne despite our nearly 20-year age difference," Douglas shared in his autobiography. When Basic Instinct was released, Tripplehorn was 28 years old and unmarried, while Douglas was 47 and still married to his first wife, model Diandra Luker. Representatives for Douglas and Tripplehorn were contacted by The Daily Mail for comment.
Behind closed doors on set
In his memoir, Douglas confessed he was so "crazy about" Tripplehorn that he found himself on the verge of leaving Luker for her, writing that he "was ready to officially leave my wife for Jeanne." However, he ultimately concluded that the "worst thing" for him would be to leap directly from his 15-year marriage into another relationship.
When their affair began, Tripplehorn "was unwilling to get involved with a married man, but I assured her that Diandra and I had formally separated," Douglas wrote. He described his marriage to Luker as a "bumpy ride" punctuated by so many on-off splits that he lost count, claiming they were leading "separate lives" and "seeing other people" by that stage.
Although they attempted to stay together for the sake of their 13-year-old son Cameron, both Douglas and Luker understood that their relationship was drawing to a close. Determined to avoid scandal, Douglas kept his involvement with Tripplehorn hidden from their co-stars and crew, spending private hours with her inside the residence he was renting.
Filming intense intimacy
"While our intimacy in real life was amazing, it made shooting our lovemaking scenes on camera challenging. In front of the crew, Jeanne was so nervous that she kept laughing uncontrollably," Douglas recalled in the book.
He detailed the process of filming their famous scenes together: "She finally stopped laughing, and we filmed an intense sex scene where I tear her clothes and bite her. She asks me to stop, but I don’t."
Noting that the era of intimacy coordinators had yet to dawn, Douglas wrote that the production did have "some concept of consent" but created the scene "the old-fashioned way" through a careful rehearsal process where every move was agreed upon before shooting.
"At the point when I was supposed to bite the back of her neck, I checked in with Jeanne after each take to make sure she was okay. After the second or third time, she said: 'Michael, you know you can really bite me,'" Douglas recalled. Although he took the note, "the scene was so intense and we were both so involved in it, she couldn’t feel a thing," though the resulting bruising had to be concealed by the hair and makeup team the next day.
Separate paths and permissions
Douglas noted that his "relationship with Jeanne lasted through production, then we went our separate ways. But I will always think of her as an amazing actress and a truly terrific woman that I was very fortunate to spend time with."
Douglas and Luker officially split three years after the release of Basic Instinct. In 2000, Douglas married his current wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, 57, with whom he shares son Dylan, 26, and daughter Carys, 23. Meanwhile, Tripplehorn married her Very Bad Things co-star Leland Orser in 2000 and welcomed their son August two years later.
Douglas clarified that although he did not maintain "much connection with Jeanne" after production wrapped, he "called her up and asked for her permission" to include their romance in his book, and she "said yes," according to People.
A second secret set romance
One Helluva Ride also saw Douglas confess to another set romance, revealing that he and Kathleen Turner conducted an affair during the making of their 1984 classic Romancing the Stone. At the time, Douglas was married to Luker, while Turner was dating her eventual husband, real estate mogul Jay Weiss.
Rumors of their relationship grew so strong that Luker traveled to the film's Mexican set to confront Turner, who publicly denied the affair for decades. Douglas has now admitted to the dalliance, detailing how he and Turner became swept up in "lust" on the set of the adventure film.
"Kathleen was smart, funny and sexy, with a deep sultry voice that became her signature," wrote the actor, describing himself as the "nepo baby" of Old Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas. "I instantly liked her and we were immediately attracted to each other."
He maintained that his home life was "in a bad place" during filming: "Diandra and I were both having extramarital affairs. The truth is that during the production of Romancing the Stone, Kathleen and I fell hard for each other and began a relationship."
Jungle nights and cover stories
Far from being "a fly-by night affair," Douglas wrote that the romance "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."
The pair concealed the fling from colleagues, including co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis. "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," the Fatal Attraction star shared.
Luker brought the affair to an end when she arrived on set with their four-year-old son Cameron. However, the professional bond between Douglas and Turner survived. They went on to star in the 1985 sequel The Jewel of the Nile and reunited for the 1989 dark divorce comedy The War of the Roses, directed by DeVito.
Douglas and Turner struck a "gentleman's agreement" to publicly deny their connection "to protect my wife and son." Douglas wrote: "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."
Turner previously recalled the end of the romance in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, saying: "The chemistry was there and Michael and I were both terrible flirts. We were in the jungle and I was feeling very romantic towards him. It was going to happen. Then I walked on set one day and his wife was suddenly there. She sat next to him and that was that. You don't mess with another woman's husband."
Turner reacted with equanimity to Douglas revealing their history in his memoir, saying: "Good heavens, what a fuss about something 40 years ago! I love Michael and I look forward to enjoying the book."
