Sharon Stone has recreated her legendary legs-open scene from the 1992 thriller Basic Instinct for ELLE's 40th anniversary photoshoot. The actress wore a latex trench coat as she basked in the sun, unbuttoned at the bottom, mimicking her iconic role as Catherine Tramell.
Photos and Style
Sharon wore a long green trench coat, unbuttoned at the bottom as she spread her legs open. She covered her face with black sunglasses and accessorised with pointed stiletto heels, posing with her hands in her pockets and a stony expression as she leaned back in the chair. Her iconic blonde pixie crop was slicked back in a middle parting.
Health Struggles and Career Impact
Sharon spoke to ELLE Spain about her ill health, which had a serious impact on her career. The actress previously suffered a stroke and a brain haemorrhage. She said: "Against all odds, I managed to recover, but the job offers disappeared. At that time, if you were a woman and something happened to you, you were finished."
She added: "People don't know, or tend to forget, invisible disabilities. I think that women who are considered beautiful and intelligent are perceived in a very specific way, almost as if one thing cancels out the other."
"People find it very difficult to understand that I am a fragile artist, physically small, shy, private, lonely, sweet, delicate and empathetic."
Memoir and Controversy
In her memoir The Beauty of Living Twice, Sharon revealed that she once slapped director Paul Verhoeven in anger and walked out of a preview of Basic Instinct. She was reportedly assured that the full frontal scene wouldn't be shown and she joked viewers could "see all the way to Nebraska."
Verhoeven has denied her claims that the leg-crossing scene was a complete surprise, saying: "Any actress knows what she's going to see if you ask her to take off her underwear and point there with the camera." Sharon later fired back: "Regrets are like farts, you can't get them back. Once they're out, there's stinky and gone."
Sharon Stone appears in the special 40th Anniversary of ELLE.
