Michael Douglas has finally revealed the identity of the *Basic Instinct* co-star he secretly dated while he was still legally married—and the actress was photographed with her husband in Los Angeles on the very day the decades-old romance became public.
The 82-year-old actor has opened up about the relationship in his new memoir, *One Helluva Ride*, which revisits some of the most personal and complicated chapters of his long Hollywood career.
Among them is a romance that developed while Douglas was filming one of the most famous erotic thrillers of the 1990s.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven, 1992’s *Basic Instinct* starred Douglas as homicide detective Nick Curran, who becomes entangled with mysterious crime novelist Catherine Tramell, played by Sharon Stone.
The intense chemistry between Douglas and Stone became one of the film’s defining features, and for years, fans speculated about whether that connection extended beyond the cameras.
According to Douglas, however, everyone was looking at the wrong woman.
In his memoir, the actor reveals that he was actually romantically involved with Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played police psychologist Dr. Beth Garner.
At the time, Douglas was still legally married to his first wife, Diandra Luker.
He maintains that their marriage was already deeply troubled and that they were separated and living separate lives when the relationship with Tripplehorn began.
Douglas recalled that he and Tripplehorn deliberately kept their growing closeness away from the rest of the cast and crew.
He said they “took great pains to hide” the relationship.
Away from the set, the two reportedly spent long stretches of time talking and getting to know one another.
Tripplehorn was making her feature-film debut in *Basic Instinct*, while Douglas was already one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
There was also a significant age difference between them. Douglas was nearly 20 years older.
According to his account, Tripplehorn initially resisted becoming involved with him because he was still married.
Douglas said he assured her that his relationship with Luker was effectively over and that both he and his wife were already seeing other people.
Still, what began as an attraction apparently became much more serious for Douglas than he expected.
“The truth is, I fell very hard for Jeanne despite our nearly 20-year age difference.” Continue Reading ⬇️