Michael Douglas has gained global prominence with his portrayal of Hank Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, his acting career has been going strong since 1969. He has impressed Hollywood with his impeccable work in commercially hit erotic thrillers with films like Fatal Attraction, Disclosure, and Basic Instinct.
His 1992 film, Basic Instinct made quite headlines at the time due to the steamy scenes which made the film quite controversial. When it first premiered at Cannes Film Festival, it surely made a noise which affected everyone’s dinner!
Michael Douglas’s Basic Instinct Made Viewers Uncomfortable at Cannes!
Alongside him, the film starred Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and George Dzundza among several others. He recalled how viewers found it uncomfortable.
“Seeing a lot of those s*x scenes on the Grand Palais’ huge screen, it was a little overwhelming for a lot of people.”
Due to their overwhelming response, they had a hard time processing it.
“We had a very quiet dinner afterwards, everyone was sort of digesting it.”
The film revolves around a homicide detective (Michael Douglas) investigating a rock star’s murder only to get entangled with prime suspect and crime writer, Catherine Tramell (Stone). During the time of its release, the cast and crew were under major public scrutiny especially Stone’s sexuality in the film.
Michael Douglas Addressed Basic Instinct’s Backlash
Douglas was surprised when the film was getting criticism for Sharon Stone’s character being bisexual. During an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 1992, he addressed the issue stating,
“The gay issue really took me by surprise. I don’t see anybody in the movie being upset because anybody’s bisexual or gay or anything else. Catherine’s bisexuality was just an interesting twist. If you’re going to deal in this detective genre, which has been done to death, you have to look for different twists.”
Not just Sharon’s sexuality but her cross-legged interrogation scene also garnered major backlash. It entirely changed her personal life as the overwhelming attention she received at the time was much more than she could have handled by herself. However, she eventually learned to manage it but lost custody of her son. She revealed at the time that a judge had made judgemental remarks in reference to her character which led to her losing custody.
Despite the backlash, Basic Instinct grossed $352.9 million worldwide which is now available to stream on Prime Video.
Source: Variety
