LOS ANGELES — Nearly four decades ago, “Romancing the Stone” introduced audiences to the crackling chemistry between Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner.
Now at 76 and 66 years old, Douglas and Turner are back on screen together in the third and final season of Netflix’s “The Kominsky Method.” Despite the many years that have passed since their third and last film together, their reunion was seamless.
“Like riding a bicycle,” Douglas said over a video call. “We’d look at each other, and there’s a lot of memories coming back.”
The Los Angeles-set “Kominsky Method” doesn’t place the pair in the same exotic locations as 1984’s “Romancing the Stone” or its sequel “Jewel of the Nile.” But it does include the type of caustic barbs from their last film together, 1989’s “The War of the Roses.”
It was with that in mind that Douglas thought to invite Turner to join “The Kominsky Method” in its second season to play his character’s sharp-tongued ex-wife, who’s introduced during a phone call. The idea came to Douglas immediately when creator/writer Chuck Lorre mentioned introducing an ex-wife to the show.
“I just smiled and I said, ‘This is ‘The War of the Roses’ revisited 30 years later,’ ” Douglas said. “We’ve already got our backstories and we’re all set.”
As in the film, Turner often uses R-rated terms when speaking to Douglas’ character, which never fails to delight her in real life.
“(There are) two times at least when she gets to go, ‘No, I’m f——- with you, a——!’ ” Turner recalled, laughing. “It was just such fun. And he takes it very well, I have to say.”
Seeing the two of them act together again was “thrilling,” said Sarah Baker, who plays Douglas’ daughter in the show.
“I like to think of myself as the ‘Romancing the Stone’ baby,” she joked. “The chemistry is just there, that timing, the rapport between them. It’s the kind of thing, it’s very difficult to fake, so when you have that just inherently between you, we just got to sit back and watch and had a front-row seat, which was amazing.”
Paul Reiser, who plays Baker’s fiance, said he was struck by the uniqueness of Douglas’ and Turner’s relationship.
“There aren’t that many pairings of actors … There aren’t that many that you’ve seen repeatedly,” he said. “You’ve got De Niro and Pesci. Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. … You subconsciously have this history that the minute you see them. It almost breaks the frame in a good way. It makes what you’re watching seem a piece of what you’ve been watching for years. It’s a real treat to have that.”
Turner’s presence — along with an expanded role for Reiser and smaller parts for Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Allison Janney — helps make up for the third season’s absence of Alan Arkin, who left the show after its second season. His banter with and needling of Douglas was pitch perfect and earned both men Emmy nominations.
“He was such an instrumental part of our success,” Douglas said. “It was a little bit of a risk … but I felt strong enough for the other characters.”
Douglas said he’s sad the show is ending but that he appreciates what it has taught him.
