Sitting on a chair, with a green coat and legs spread, Sharon Stone brings back one of the most recognizable images in cinema. At 68 years old, the actress recreated the pose of Catherine Tramell from “Basic Instinct“ for the special issue of ELLE Spain, dedicated to the magazine's 40th anniversary.
The shot is reminiscent of the police interrogation scene from Paul Verhoeven's film, released in 1992. Stone's character is questioned by investigators, among whom is Michael Douglas' character. Instead of answering, she crosses and uncrosses her legs, a gesture that reveals that she is not wearing underwear.
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This brief moment made Stone an international star, but it also remains associated with one of the most controversial episodes of her career. In her memoir “The Beauty of Living Twice“ the actress wrote that she felt misled about the way the scene would be shown. She says that she only realized what the shot looked like at a screening, after which she punched Verhoeven and left the theater.
The director rejects this version. “Every actress knows what she will see if you ask her to take off her underwear and point the camera there“, Verhoeven says.
Despite the controversy, Sharon Stone does not define the film as a mistake. For her, the fame that followed “Basic Instinct“ is part of a complex career in which the big breakthrough comes with a high personal cost.
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In the interview with ELLE España the actress also spoke about the most difficult period of her life. In 2001, she suffered a stroke and a cerebral hemorrhage. The recovery forced her to relearn how to walk, talk and read.
“Against all odds, I managed to recover, but the job offers disappeared,“ says Stone. According to her at the time, a woman's professional life could be over if something like this happened to her.
“People don't know or forget about invisible disabilities“, says Sharon Stone.
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She adds that society has difficulty reconciling the idea of a beautiful and intelligent woman with that of a person who is physically fragile, withdrawn and sensitive. Stone defines herself as small, shy, lonely and empathetic, despite the public image built around the role of Catherine Tramell.
Today, the actress is again working on several projects. Two films with her participation await premiere, she is finishing an exhibition in Prague, and in “Euphoria“ she plays an influential Hollywood executive.
The green coat from the photoshoot doesn't just repeat an old movie pose. It's a reminder that the image that made her a cinematic icon in 1992 still exists, but it's now part of a larger story - one about illness, recovery and a refusal to let go of the past.