Romancing the Stone star Kathleen Turner, 71, makes striking red carpet appearance 42 years after film with Michael Douglas

Kathleen portrays Benjamin in the film, which is based on George Orwell’s satirical dystopian novel from 1945. “I enjoyed it very, very much,” she told Digital Journal of her experience working on the film. 

“I think it makes it more accessible for younger audiences, the introduction of some of the characters, the animals, and the animation,” she continued. “It’s a story that keeps going around, boy…every 80 years since George Orwell wrote this, here we are again. So, it needs to be told again.” 

Kathleen rose to fame in the ’80s thanks to her starring roles in Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, and The War of the Roses and Romancing the Stone alongside Michael Douglas. 

Together, the pair starred in three films, including The Jewel of the Nile, and their chemistry practically leapt off the screen. 

According to the Golden Globe winner, their connection was just as strong in real life, yet neither of them acted on their feelings. 

“Oh, I was yearning, babe, but he was still married [to first wife Diandra Luker]…although they were separated, and so I thought there was hope for me,” she admitted to People of their chemistry on the set of Romancing the Stone. 

“It was that wonderful sexual tension, you know?” she continued. “When you really, really know you want somebody – and I’m saying it went both ways – and you can’t have them. It’s just lovely.”

Kathleen and Michael reunited for The Kominsky Method in 2021 and shared how their friendship had developed over the decades. 

“You protect and cherish when you’ve got a good relationship,” Michael said to People, adding that working with her was “so much fun.”

“It just is a comfort factor. Then you get to see it on screen and [realize], ‘Oh, this is really good.'”

“They say it’s like slipping on an old shoe, which I assume means that it’s one of your favorite things. And that’s how it feels,” Kathleen said of her role on the show. 

The 71-year-old has been living with rheumatoid arthritis since the early ’90s. “Rheumatoid arthritis hit in my late 30s, the last of my years in which Hollywood would consider me a sexually appealing leading lady,” she told Vulture. 

“At that time, there was very little public knowledge about autoimmune diseases, so my illness was a source of bad mystery.” 

Symptoms of RA include painful, swollen joints, loss of energy and inflammation. “I’m getting stronger all the time,” she added. “So let’s find out what I can do.”