Sharon Stone Admits the Iconic Basic Instinct Scene Still Makes People “Afraid” of Her

Sharon Stone has admitted that her famous provocative scene from Basic Instinct still affects the way people perceive her. According to the 68-year-old actress, many people were literally “afraid” to interact with her after the film was released.

In the 1992 thriller, Stone played writer Catherine Tramell, who is suspected of murder. The film’s protagonist, detective Nick Curran, played by Michael Douglas, investigates the killing of Johnny Boz, portrayed by Bill Cable, and suspects his girlfriend, Catherine, of the crime. However, the investigation takes an unexpected turn when the detective falls for the woman he is investigating.

The scene in question is the film’s legendary police interrogation. Catherine sits in front of a group of detectives, including Nick, calmly answering their questions, smoking a cigarette and cleverly dismantling the investigators’ arguments. At one point, she points out the flaws in their suspicions, arguing that she would have to be incredibly stupid to commit a murder in exactly the way she had described in her novel.

The scene reaches its climax when Catherine changes the position of her legs, unexpectedly revealing that she is not wearing underwear.

Decades later, Stone says the scene continues to shape the way the public perceives her.

In an interview with Variety, the actress was asked whether people really were afraid of her after Basic Instinct. Stone said they were.

“And what they did was show the movie to journalists and then invite them to interview me. They were afraid, they would sit across from me and start panicking,” the actress recalled.

According to Stone, the situation has hardly changed since then.

“Nothing has changed: people are still afraid of me in one way or another. I think the very idea of a woman declaring her independence and being indomitable was and remains frightening,” she said.