“Basic Instinct” director Paul Verhoeven disputed a claim Sharon Stone made suggesting she was tricked into the famous leg-crossing scene in the film.
“My memory is radically different from Sharon’s memory,” the 82-year-old dutch filmmaker shared with Variety in a piece published Thursday. (RELATED: Sharon Stone Gets Locked Out Of Dating Site For Being Sharon Stone)
Basic Instinct Director Denies Sharon Stone’s Claim That She Was Tricked Into Nude Scene https://t.co/IVzvwQqe7k
— People (@people) July 8, 2021
“That does not stand in the way and has nothing to do with the wonderful way that she portrayed Catherine Tramell,” he added. “She is absolutely phenomenal. We still have a pleasant relationship and exchange text messages.” (RELATED: Sharon Stone Says She Posed In Playboy ‘To Get’ In The Film ‘Basic Instinct’)
“But her version is impossible,” Verhoeven continued. “She knew exactly what we were doing. I told her it was based on a story of a woman that I knew when I was a student who did the crossing of her legs without panties regularly at parties. When my friend told her we could see her vagina, she said, ‘Of course, that’s why I do it.’ Then Sharon and I decided to do a similar sequence.” (RELATED: Sharon Stone Knocks Bernie Sanders: ‘How Much Acid Has He Taken?’)
Stone shared in her recent memoir, “The Beauty of Living Twice,” that a member of the movie’s production had suggested she take off her underwear during the scene because it was effecting the light. She also shared that she was assured her private area would not be visible on the final film.
The actress said that when she saw the final cut of the film it came as quite a shock to see her vagina there on the big screen.
“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, People magazine reported.
“Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I’m the one with the vagina, in question, let me say: The other points of view are bulls—,” she added. “… It was me and my parts up there.”
The “Casino” star said she then called her lawyer who she said informed her “it wasn’t legal to shoot up” her “dress in” that way, based on the Screen Actors Guild.
“I let Paul know of the options Marty had laid out for me,” Stone recalled. “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? 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.”