Paul Verhoeven’s neo-noir outing with Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas headlining the film was perhaps one of the most polarizing pieces of cinema of its time (and perhaps even today) which sundered the audience into opposing factions.
Indeed, Basic Instinct turned out to be Stone’s breakthrough, elevating her to newfound heights of stardom in the industry, but it was nothing short of a pyrrhic victory for the acclaimed actress. And even more than three decades later, the former model appears unable to escape the chokehold that the erotic thriller – which nearly derailed her life – seemingly has over her.
Sharon Stone Recreates the (In)Famous Basic Instinct Scene
32 years ago, Sharon Stone filmed the interrogation room scene in Basic Instinct which, unbeknownst to her, would go on to spread a controversy as pernicious as a forest fire, eventually turning her life chaotically upside down.
But maybe time is yet to heal her wounds (or it did and she’s taking the power back, depending on how you look at it) because Stone, 66, just recreated the cross-legged pose on her Instagram. On July 12, the Academy Award-nominated star hopped on her social media and brought back Catherine Tramell, clad in a red two-piece set with a chunky pearl necklace and blue heels.
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In the film, her seductive and cunning character, Catherine, sits cross-legged in a skimpy white dress amid a police interview regarding the murder of Johnny Boz, a former rock star. At one point in the scene, the Total Recall star uncrosses her legs, flashing the male detectives while doing so. But after seeing the movie herself, Stone claimed she’d been deceived by the filmmaker.
In her memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, Stone wrote how Basic Instinct director Paul Verhoeven had originally assured her that her nudity in the scene wouldn’t be visible on-screen. “‘We can’t see anything,'” the Casino star recalled being told at the time. “‘I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on'” (via Deadline).
While Verhoeven – who Stone claimed she slapped on the day of the early screening after the disturbing revelation – “vehemently denied” such allegations, the R-rated ’90s project nevertheless had a deplorable impact on her life in more ways than one.
How the 1992 Erotic Thriller Nearly Wrecked Sharon Stone’s Life
Not only did Basic Instinct turn Stone into an irrevocable s*x symbol, especially after the one scene in which she’d been misled, but the film also cost her the custody of her son and left her mental well-being in jeopardy.
Since it marked her big break, the Michael Douglas-led venture landed Stone smack dab in the middle of instantaneous and relentless fame which was more than a then-budding actress could handle. “I was on my knees, dry heaving,” she said of the time when her sudden orbit into stardom rendered her overwhelmed.
In a podcast interview with iHeartRadio last year, the Golden Globe winner further revealed how she lost custody of her child back in 2004 owing to her brief nudity in Basic Instinct.
When the judge asked my child — my tiny little boy, ‘Do you know your mother makes s*x movies?’ Like, this kind of abuse by the system — that I was considered what kind of parent I was because I made that movie.
The same year, Stone – whose mental and physical health dwindled after losing the custody battle to ex-husband Phil Bronstein – had to be hospitalized for cardiac difficulties. “It broke my heart,” she said of the woeful time.
Basic Instinct can be streamed on Paramount+ and rented on Apple TV+.
