Sharon Stone Reveals She Was Misled About Her Scandalous 'Basic Instinct' Scene

It has been a couple of years since the #MeToo movement re-emerged within Hollywood. Since Alyssa Milano’s viral tweet accusing Harvey Weinstein of sexual misconduct, more women came out.

Many women experience some form of sexual abuse and sexual misconduct in the workplace. Women in Hollywood dealt with shady directors, producers, co-stars, and crew for decades before anyone would listen.

The sexist environment on film sets allowed plenty of remarks, touches, and shots to go unnoticed. Sharon Stone recently came out about her racy ‘Basic Instinct’ scene and revealed she was misled as a rising star.

The Interrogation Scene

At 32 years old former model and rising actress Sharon Stone became a household name and a sex symbol. Her fame was all earned by an erotic interrogation scene in Paul Verhoeven’s ‘Basic Instinct.’

Stone famously wears a white mini dress and heeled pumps in the scene where she sits on a chair, relaxed. The actress crosses and uncrosses her legs and flashes her lady parts to the interrogator on screen.

As Sharon suggestively asks, ‘Is it nice?’ while she is exposed, one can almost hear a sex symbol is born. The scene is one of the film’s most memorable shots and is still the topic of conversation 29 years later.

Although ‘Basic Instinct’ had its fair share of controversial reviews, we hadn’t heard much from Sharon until now. Stone shared an excerpt from her memoir, which revealed how the scene almost broke her.

Seeing The Scene For The First Time

In the first few paragraphs of the excerpt, we are introduced to how insecure Stone was before landing the role. The actress shares she took classes with acting coach Roy London where she finally found her worth.

Although Sharon had finally found footing in her talent, producers told her to play on her sexuality to get roles. Soon, she landed the ‘Basic Instinct’ role, shot that scene, and was surprised to see her exposed vagina on screen.

“It didn’t matter anymore. It was me and my parts up there. I had decisions to make. I went to the projection booth, slapped Paul across the face, left, went to my car, and called my lawyer, Marty Singer.”

Says Sharon Stone

Sharon recalls being called in to watch the scene in a room full of men who had nothing to do with the film. She reveals that she saw her intimate parts for the first time during that screening and considered pressing charges.

Exposing The Pressures Of Being An Actress

To her shock, she was exposed on-screen, which was not the worst of what she experienced on the set. Sharon reveals being pressured to have sex with a co-star by a producer who claimed it would result in better chemistry.

Many women have been in a similar position as Stone but haven’t had the platform to speak out. To avoid such instances, several actresses now have nude scene clauses to protect them from predatory filmmakers.

A critical takeaway from Sharon’s experiences with sexism and sexual misconduct is that people can’t shame her. The perpetrators of these offenses should be shamed for their actions instead, as women speak out.