It was explosive from the start between Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas.
The two got into an intense public argument before starring together in 1992’s “Basic Instinct,” the actress claimed in an interview with Business Insider published Friday.
Stone alleged Douglas didn’t even want to test with her for the erotic thriller because of their friction when they first met at Cannes. Stone alleged the argument happened because she defended a friend that Douglas was talking negatively about and it “triggered” him.
“A bunch of us were all sitting, and he was talking about someone and their kids,” she claimed. “I really, really knew this person he was talking about. So I said something and he responded to me, saying, ‘What the f–k do you know?’ It was in regard to a father-child relationship.”
Stone claimed Douglas screamed at her across a whole group of people.
“I’m not the person who goes, ‘Oh, excuse me, superstar,’” she said. “I pushed back my chair and said to him, ‘Let’s step outside.’ That’s how we first met.”
The actress said they did step outside and she explained to him that she was best friends with the family that he was talking about. She said they parted ways “amicably,” though apparently, it left an impression on Douglas.
“So, fast forward to casting ‘Basic Instinct,’ I don’t think he wanted me to be his co-star,” she said.
Stone didn’t regret the encounter, because she said it worked to her advantage during filming.
“I was not rattled if he yelled at me,” she explained. “That was interesting for the character because Michael has a temper, and I didn’t care.”
“That worked very well in our dynamic,” she continued. “Eventually, we became the greatest of friends, to this day. I admire him tremendously.”
But Douglas’ rep tells Page Six that the actor “doesn’t recall” even meeting Stone ahead of her casting.
“Michael Douglas doesn’t recall meeting or knowing of Sharon Stone until seeing [director] Paul Verhoeven’s test of her for ‘Basic Instinct,’” the rep says. “When he saw the test he said she was the right actress for the part. He remembers they were in Cannes together to promote the film which was screened at the festival.”
Stone, 67, previously revealed that she only made $500,000 for her role as crime writer Catherine Tramell, while Douglas, 80, made $14 million for his role as detective Nick Curran.
“Now, I was new. I was new and he was a very big star,” she shared at the New York Women in Film & Television’s 43rd annual Muse Awards lunch in March 2023.
Stone also said that she faced disrespect from a line producer on the film, who kept referring to her as “Karen” throughout the entirety production.
“Even at the Governor’s Ball [after the Oscars], he still called me ‘Karen!’ And, I carried that humiliation really deeply within me — even though my name wasn’t on the poster,” she said.
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