Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone recalls how starring in the controversial Paul Verhoeven movie resulted in the loss of custody of her child. Released in 1992, Basic Instinct follows Michael Douglas’ Detective Nick Curran as he investigates novelist Catherine Tramell (Stone) for her possible involvement in a brutal murder. The film quickly proved controversial due to its excessive sex and nudity, but its significant box office success helped to popularize the erotic thriller genre in Hollywood for years to come.
During a recent interview on the Table For Two With Bruce Bozzi podcast, Stone reflects on her time filming Basic Instinct, revealing that her participation in the film caused her to lose custody of her child.
Specifically, she explains, her nude scenes in the film were used against her in court. Check out Stone’s full comment below:
“I lost custody of my child when the judge asked my child, ‘Do you know your mother makes sex movies?’ Like this kind of abuse by the system that considered what kind of parent I was because I made that movie… people are walking around with no clothes on at all on regular tv now… maybe like 16th of a second of possible nudity of me and now I lost custody. I lost custody of my child.”
Basic Instinct Controversy Explained
Verhoeven has always attempted to push the envelope as a filmmaker. After his use of extreme violence in movies like RoboCop and Total Recall, he turned his attention to sex and nudity with Basic Instinct. Immediately upon release, the film proved controversial due to these aspects, with the general critical consensus being that the film’s excessive sex and nudity ultimately take away from the story it’s trying to tell. While these aspects alone generated some controversy, Stone would also speak out about her role in the film in later years.
One of the most iconic and talked-about shots in Basic Instinct comes during a scene in which Douglas’ detective is interrogating Stone’s character. In the scene, Stone’s character uncrosses her legs, briefly exposing her genitals. Stone claimed in her 2021 memoir that she wasn’t aware that she would be fully exposed in the scene and that she had been misled during filming. She writes that she only found out about the extent of the scene when watching Basic Instinct in a screening filled with agents and lawyers.
Verhoeven eventually responded to Stone’s claims, saying that “she knew exactly what we were doing.” Not long after Stone’s memoir hit shelves in 2021, it was announced that a 30th anniversary Basic Instinct director’s cut would be released, which Stone subsequently expressed her distaste for. The controversy surrounding Basic Instinct will likely live on, and Stone’s most recent comments shed more light on an experience that evidently had significant consequences in her personal life.
Source: Table For Two With Bruce Bozzi