Sharon Stone says she slapped 'Basic Instinct' director Paul Verhoeven after seeing her famous leg-crossing scene for the first time
Sharon Stone said she was misled about the direction of her famous "Basic Instinct" scene, in which she is shown crossing her legs with no under*wear on, and slapped director Paul Verhoeven after watching the movie for the first time.
In an excerpt of her forthcoming memoir, titled "The Beauty of Living Twice," that was published by Vanity Fair on Thursday, Stone said she was initially reluctant to remove her under*wear for the famous scene but said Verhoeven assured her that her crotch would not be visible on-screen. But Stone said that after the movie was finished she was invited to a preview screening with the entire crew as well as all the agents and producers involved with the film, where she saw that her crotch was indeed visible.
"That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I'd been told, 'We can't see anything – I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on,'" Stone wrote.
"I went to the projection booth, slapped Paul across the face, left, went to my car, and called my lawyer, Marty Singer."
Stone wrote that her lawyer informed her that she could move to stop the film from being released through an injunction as production regulations set by the Screen Actors Guild — the American actors union — stated that it was illegal to film up her dress. But she said that she ultimately allowed the scene to be included because it was right for the character.
"I let Paul know of the options Marty had laid out for me. Of course, he vehemently denied that I had any choices at all. I was just an actress, just a woman; what choices could I have?" she wrote.
"But I did have choices. So I thought and thought and I chose to allow this scene in the film. Why? Because it was correct for the film and for the character; and because, after all, I did it," Stone added.
Verhoeven previously denied that Stone was unaware of his intentions. During a 2017 interview with ICON, he said: "Sharon is lying. Any actress knows what she's going to see if you ask her to take off her under*wear and point there with the camera."
He continued: "I am Dutch, so we act with total normality towards n-dity. And Sharon was carried away by this relaxed attitude. But when she saw the scene surrounded by other [American] people, including her agent and her publicist, she went crazy."
In the 1992 erotic thriller, Stone plays an enigmatic crime novelist who becomes the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a popular musician. During the famous scene, she is being interrogated by the lead detective played by Michael Douglas when she crosses and uncrosses her legs multiple times.
