In recent years, there has been much ado about the sex scene as depicted on film and in television, with regard to its narrative merit and/or potential for appearing gratuitous. For Sharon Stone, “blatant, harsh” depictions of sexuality rob the viewer of intrigue.
During a recent conversation with longtime CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King, the Academy Award nominee reflected on the pioneering erotic thriller Basic Instinct — and its much-discussed interrogation scene.
“It wasn’t even an entire frame of film,” Stone said of the now-notorious nude scene, which caused a media frenzy at the time of the film’s release in 1992. “And, so, people were desperately trying to figure it out. And I think that idea of, ‘Oh, my God,’ this hope, this wonder, this mystery, this intrigue, this yearning is something that is what all of our profound sexuality is based in.”
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She continued, “So often, now, when sex scenes come on TV, I fast-forward. I don’t want to see it. I don’t want to have to go through all of this blatant, harsh sexuality. For me, it steals from my own imagination. And I prefer my yearning, mystery, desire. I want to keep that alive inside myself.”
In 2021, a Vanity Fair excerpt from Stone’s memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, revealed the actress was unaware she would be appearing nude in the film, saying she had been misled by the film’s director, Paul Verhoeven.
“That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time,” she wrote about screening the final cut in “a room full of agents and lawyers,” after being “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.’ 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 bullshit. It was me and my parts up there.’”
Stone will next be appearing in the third season of Euphoria, in which she portrays a legendary showrunner; Maude Apatow’s Lexi serves as her assistant in the continuation of the HBO Sam Levinson drama.
