“I decided it fit the character”: Sharon Stone Agreed to Keep Her Iconic Pose Without Her Underwear in Erotic Thriller Despite Being Paid $13.5M Lesser Than Marvel Star

When we look into the list of successful 90s artists, Sharon Stone is one name we just can’t skip. Having started her acting career in the 80s, she worked on projects like King Solomon’s Mines, Cold Steel, and Above the Law. She ultimately got her breakthrough role in Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall which only inclined positively as his other project, Basic Instinct gave her international recognition.

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However, the project garnered major controversy due to its explicit content with one specific scene making rounds on tabloids for quite a long time. However, the actress decided to keep one of the most controversial scenes in the film.

Sharon Stone Discussed Her Controversial Interrogation Scene in Basic Instinct

In 1992, Sharon Stone shocked Hollywood with her performance as she portrayed the role of Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct. The film threw light on some of the sensitive topics that were not boldly tackled at the time.

One of the controversial scenes involved the star’s iconic leg-crossing interrogation scene. She initially filmed the scene wearing her underwear however it was reflecting a distracting light thus creating hindrance in the shoot. The film director, Paul Verhoeven decided to film it without her undergarments which she agreed to for that specific scene.

It was alleged that he assured the star to hide her privates with a shadow in the post-production but the result was not helpful much. Though she initially thought of halting the film due to that specific scene after watching the final product in the public screening, she later addressed the same at Hamptons Film Festival showing no hesitation about it.

“After a week of considering to stop the release of the movie, I decided it fit the character in the film and it should stay in.”

With the actress approving her work, it was screened grossing $352.9 million worldwide. Given that the film was a major commercially successful project, the actress received quite less than her male counterpart.

Sharon Stone Was Massively Underpaid Than Her Co-star, Michael Douglas

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Despite the actress getting international recognition for her portrayal in the 1992 film, her paycheck was much less than her co-star, Michael Douglas. As per reports, the actress received $500K for her portrayal given that she was a rising star before becoming an international sensation.

Meanwhile, the Marvel star earned a whopping check of $14 million and was already a superstar in the 1990s. Though she knew that the gap in their salaries was quite large, she was happy for the opportunity to be in the film. She also kept her costumes from the film to compensate for the less paycheck she received for her work.

While the first part gave her international recognition, its sequel, Basic Instinct 2 gave her a whopping pay of $13.6 million but was unable to impress the critics, failing miserably at the box office.

Basic Instinct is available on Paramount+.

Source: Page Six