Key Takeaways:
– Sharon Stone experienced significant trauma due to filming of her infamous scene in Basic Instinct.
– Mental duress from the incident impacted Stone’s personal life, causing her to lose custody of her son.
– Stone also highlighted the huge pay disparity between her and co-star Michael Douglas.
In recent revelations, veteran actress Sharon Stone shared her traumatic experience while filming the renowned leg-crossing scene in the 1992 thriller, Basic Instinct. Despite the film’s widely acknowledged success and the iconic status it granted her in cinema’s pop culture history, Stone stated that the lack of transparency and respect on set left a lasting, negative impact on her mental health and personal life.
Sharon Stone’s Basic Instinct Drama
During the time of Basic Instinct’s production, Hollywood hadn’t yet established roles like intimacy coordinators – individuals designated to respect the actors’ privacy and safety on set. This huge gap in understanding between Stone and the director’s team led to her being maneuvered into a very controversial scene without full knowledge of its implications.
In her memoir, Stone revealed that a member from director Paul Verhoeven’s team asked her to remove her underwear for a shot, assuring her that nothing explicit would be visible. However, the reality was far from what she had been led to believe, as Stone discovered when she witnessed the explicit shot for the first time.
Shaken by this betrayal, Stone struggled with mental health issues and suffered personal losses, such as losing custody of her four-year-old son. This violation of her rights has drawn a fresh spotlight on the necessity of intimacy coordinators on film sets even today.
Stone’s Advocacy for Equal Pay
In addition to revealing the behind-the-scenes drama, Stone used her platform to address the persisting issue of pay disparity in Hollywood. Despite Basic Instinct becoming a top-grossing film, Stone was paid significantly less than her co-star, Michael Douglas.
Speaking at the New York Women In Film & Television’s 43rd annual Muse Awards, Stone revealed, “Michael Douglas made $14 million. Now, I was new. He was new and he was a very big star.” Stone herself had made only $500,000, which is almost 28 times less than her male counterpart, despite putting in as much effort as him, if not more.
Stone’s move to publicly address this issue marked one of the first instances where a Hollywood A-list actress raised the topic of pay disparity. This discussion continues to be crucial in today’s cinematic landscape as well.
Stone’s revelations have shed light on the darker side of Hollywood’s past and its struggles with respecting actors’ rights and addressing gender-based pay disparities. These conversations continue to be relevant, emphasizing the need for advancement and transparency in the industry.
Basic Instinct is available for streaming on platforms like Hulu and Paramount+. Despite the controversy surrounding its production, the film remains an iconic piece of cinema history.
In conclusion, Stone’s candid revelations highlight both the problematic aspects of Hollywood’s past and the strides that still need to be made for a more transparent, respectful, and equitable film industry. Her story serves as a reminder of the importance of open conversations around these pivotal issues.
