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Sharon Stone may have never played Catherine Tramell if it weren’t for her manager’s dedication — and apparent ability to pick locks.
While her performance in the erotic thriller has since helped make the 1992 film the controversial-yet-memorable hit that it is today, the Basic Instinct star, 67, shared in a new interview with Business Insider that she almost never got her hands on the script before getting to audition for the part.
When asked by the outlet how she landed the role, Stone shared that filmmaker Paul Verhoeven — who directed her in Total Recall two years earlier — didn’t bring up Basic Instinct to her when they filmed their previous movie. “What happened was I wanted the part, but nobody would give me the script,” Stone shared.
“So my manager, Chuck Binder, broke into the office by picking the lock with his credit card and stole the Basic Instinct script for me,” she continued. “I read it and I said, ‘I’m having this part.’ ” It was only after “everyone they went out to would turn it down” that the actress eventually landed the now-iconic role.
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The film, which follows Tramell as she becomes implicated in the death of a retired rock musician, also stars Michael Douglas as Det. Nick Curran and Jeanne Tripplehorn as Dr. Elisabeth Garner. In addition to being a massive box office hit, it earned two Academy Award nominations for editing and original score.
Stone also shared with BI that she and Douglas, now 80, didn’t initially see eye to eye right away and had an argument prior to filming. She said with a laugh that she “don’t think he wanted me to be his costar,” adding later that “he wouldn’t even test with me.”
In an exclusive statement to PEOPLE, a rep for Douglas said the actor was “very surprised” by Stone’s story since “he doesn’t remember any argument in that timeframe” between them. Stone and Douglas have since become “the greatest of friends” and she admires him “tremendously,” the actress told BI.
Back in 2023, Stone opened up to PEOPLE about the process of filming Basic Instinct, revealing that the film allowed her to “confront my whole self,” which she called a “scary journey.”
“But once you do it, you walk away with a tremendous amount of confidence because you’ve had to look at all of yourself, parts of yourself you would never have to dig deep and look at, scary parts, dark parts, concerning parts,” she said. “And once you do that, you get quite a bit of confidence because you’ve really looked into the dark mirror.”
Stone added it’s been “fun” to see the erotic thriller genre experiencing a revival three decades down the line, calling the films “exciting” and “sexy.”
The Academy Award nominee notably recreated her famous crossed-legs pose from the 1992 film on Instagram last year. In the snap, she’s posing in a red lace bra-and-underwear set and sitting in a fur chair — a nod to Basic Instinct’s iconic interrogation room scene when her character flashes detectives. “BASICALLY ….YOURS 🥰,” Stone cheekily captioned the photo.
