Hollywood is no stranger to films that are meant to be dark and raw since this industry is the one that pioneered it in the first place. Thus, people get to know just how raw and mind-bending Basic Instinct was, especially with Sharon Stone’s character of Catharine Tramell. The film explored the underbelly of crime and desire with an extreme level of unhinges.
While Stone was the one who played the lead role in this erotic thriller, it was initially offered to actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who went on to decline it in the end. Looking back at all the negative stories and hardships like sexism and unfair treatment that Stone had to go through, the actress should count her lucky stars she made that choice.
Sharon Stone Was Absolutely Miserable While Shooting Basic Instinct
While movies are hard on stars who have to do everything in their power to make their role remarkable, those roles sometimes bring them immense pain of a negative kind. This was what Sharon Stone experienced when she shot Basic Instinct, one of the most iconic films in history and the biggest of her career.
But making this film was like walking through hell for the star, especially as this was her first big film, which she got after Michelle Pfeiffer declined to be a part of it and dodged a bullet.
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In her memoir The Beauty of Living Twice, the Casino actress talked about her borderline harrowing experience on the sets of her aforementioned film. She said that she was constantly taxed, both mentally and physically. In fact, she also claimed that she sleepwalked a couple of times due to all the stress getting to her.
But by far, one of the most absurd and insane aspects of her role came when she was asked to have intercourse with co-stars so as to have better chemistry with them on-screen. She said:
“The role was by far the most stretching that I had ever done in terms of considering the dark side of myself. It was terrifying. I had walked in my sleep three times during production, twice waking fully dressed in my car in my garage. I had hideous nightmares. (a producer) explained to me why I should f*ck my costar so that we could have onscreen chemistry. “
This wasn’t the end though, as the infamous cross-legged scene in the film was shot by keeping her in the dark as she wasn’t aware that the camera would get a shot of her genitals.
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What Was Basic Instinct About?
Taking the crime genre of films into the realm of erotic thrillers isn’t something that can be achieved with ease by many, yet Basic Instinct somehow blends these genres together to make something uniquely amazing.
The film follows the story of homicide detective Nick Curran, who is tasked to find out the mysterious murder of a rockstar that has been reported recently. In his quest to seek the truth, he ends up pinning crime novelist Catherine Tramell as the prime suspect. But her almost deadly charm and appeal might be what brings the downfall of Curran at the end as the hunter may become the prey.
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Basic Instinct, streaming on Paramount+.
