Featured Image Credit: Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Gregory Robinson
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV
Sharon Stone is reflecting on the infamous leg-crossing scene that led to controversy.
The iconic actress, 67, portrayed successful crime novelist Catherine Tramell in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct.
The 1992 film follows a detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas - who Stone claims was paid $13m more than her for the movie) as he investigates a brutal murder. The prime suspect is Catherine, who was the victim’s lover.
One scene featured Stone crossing her legs while being questioned by the detective, revealing that she was not wearing any underwear.
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Stone says she has no regrets about the scene and revealed in a new interview that she had the legal right to remove the scene from the film, but ultimately chose not to.
“I very much believe that none of us knew at the time what we were getting in regard to that shot, and when Paul [Verhoeven] got it, he didn't want to lose it, and he was scared to show me. And I get that,” she told Business Insider.
“Once I had time to calm down, I didn't make him take it out of the movie when I had the legal right to.
“So I did have the chance to do it differently, and I didn't because once I had the chance to step back, I understood, as the director, not the girl in the film, that that made the movie better.”
More than three decades later, the film, and that scene in particular, is still the focus of controversy and debate. It is still considered extremely provocative for a mainstream movie.
Stone previously claimed she was misled about how revealing the interrogation scene would be, saying she didn’t realize her genitalia would be visible until she saw the finished film.
In her 2021 memoir The Beauty of Living Twice, the actress said: “After we shot Basic Instinct, I got called in to see it. Not on my own with the director, as one would anticipate, given the situation that has given us all pause, so to speak, but with a room full of agents and lawyers, most of whom had nothing to do with the project.
“That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I’d been told, 'We can’t see anything—I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on'.
"Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I’m the one with the vagina in question, let me say: the other points of view are bulls**t.
Stone decided to allow the scene to be included in the film. This revelation, however, sparked debates about consent, exploitation, and the ethics of filmmaking.
In 2023 she claimed she lost custody of her son after her role in Basic Instinct, however in her new interview she says she does not harbor any resentment.
“It made me an icon, but it didn't bring me respect. But would I do it again? We don't get to make these choices in life. I don't participate in the fantasy world in this way.
“What I did with what happened is exactly the way I wanted to do it. [Director Paul] Verhoeven and I have a wonderful relationship.”