Sharon Stonewas almost the last person producers wanted to star inBasic Instinctwith Michael Douglas. In a candid interview with theFly on the Wall Podcast, the Hollywood veteran revealed to hosts Dana Carvey and David Spade that she went through 8 months of auditions to finally claim the role of Catherine Tramell and begin making a name for herself in the industry.
Basic Instinct
Although it is hard to imagine anyone but Stone playing the role of the crime novelist-turned-murder suspect in the 1992 Paul Verhoeven thriller, even her previous role in Verhoeven’s ownArnold Schwarzenegger-led sci-fi movieTotal Recallwas not enough to save her from being no less than the 13th woman to be offered the role. She recalled that their sights were really set on one other actress in particular:
“I auditioned for 8 and half months, and I was the 13th woman that they offered the film to. They didn’t offer it to me right away. I had to wait for 13 other more important actresses to turn it down, and they really wanted Michelle Pfeiffer, and they didn’t want me. But she turned it down, and they kept going back to her, and she turned it down again. Thankfully. And they offered it to a ton of different people who were not me, and I just kept hanging in there and screentesting and auditioning for 8 months.”
However, once she finally claimed the role, Stone was still a long way from being close to being seen as Douglas' equal, and was not even allowed to have her name on the poster. As luck would have it though, having her face staring directly out of the poster, without her name above it, ended up working in her favor. She continued:
“I think no one was ready for what happened with that movie. It was tough to make that film. We had a lot of resistance in the street, a lot everywhere. I mean resistance within…it was a hard movie to get made. It was a hard movie to make and finish. My name wasn’t even on the poster. It was a Michael Douglas movie. It was Michael Douglas - Basic Instinct. I was on the poster but not my name. Which ultimately worked out to be quite beneficial for me, because people were like who is the girl? Who’s that girl? She’s all through the movie, who is that girl.”
Sharon Stone Learned How to Deal With Hollywood Very Quickly
Even once she was established as an actress, with the success ofBasic Instinctunder her belt, being selected for a role was not always an easy task for Stone. After some less than stellar reviews for her continued association with steamy thrillers such asSliverandThe Specialist,she found herself on the verge of her most successful role in Martin Scorsese’sCasino. Although she had to go through the same audition process as she did forBasic Instinct,this time she was not prepared to just line up with everyone else vying for the part. She said:
“I did that for Casino too. They saw every showgirl in Vegas, they saw tons and tons and tons of actresses and by the time Casino came around, I was like, ‘I’m not going to line up with showgirls and not going to line up with the other 3000 actresses.’ I eventually said, ‘No, I’m not coming in until you get to serious casting. I’m sick of being yanked around and when you get to real casting just let me know.'”
Hollywood’s Greatest Comeback: Sharon Stone in 1995
After hitting a nadir that few of her contemporaries ever reached, Sharon Stone revived her career in 1995 with two masterclass performances.
It seems that her harder approach to that audition process paid off, as she did get the role of Ginger McKenna in the film, and went on to win a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Having worked constantly in both movies and TV roles for more than four decades,Stone more than proved her worthin the industry following her initial struggles. She recently starred alongside Kaley Cuoco in HBO’sThe Flight Attendant. Her latest movie is the Klaus Menzel-directed romantic dramaWhat About Love?in which she costars with Andy Garcia. The film debuted in February after being delayed four years due to the Covid pandemic.
Sharon Stone lost out on her Oscar to Susan Sarandon, who won for Dead Man Walking at the 68th Academy Awards Ceremony.
