Sometimes, Hollywood actors turn down roles in movies that end up becoming huge commercial and critical successes. For example, Emma Watson turned down an Oscar-winning role in a musical that made more than $400 million at the box office just to play Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast live-action remake. And Emma Stone had to turn down a role in Little Women to appear in the Zombieland sequel instead.
While turning down a successful role can be detrimental to an actor’s career, whoever ends up getting the role is very lucky. In fact, many lesser-known actors have gotten their big break this way. Take Christian Bale, for example, whose career and fame skyrocketed after Leo DiCaprio turned down the role in American Psycho. Something very similar happened to Sharon Stone, whose career completely changed when she starred in Basic Instinct. The film was a huge success, but the actress who originally turned down this role has no regrets about it!
Sharon Stone Appeared in Many Other Films Before Starring in Basic Instinct, but None of Them Were As Successful
While attending college, Stone won the title of Miss Crawford County, Pennsylvania, and in 1976, was a candidate for Miss Pennsylvania. One of the pageant judges convinced her to quit college and move to New York City to become a fashion model. That’s how Stone began her career.
A few years later, after modeling in several television commercials and print advertisements, Stone made her film debut as an extra in Woody Allen's drama-comedy Stardust Memories (1980). A year later, she played her first speaking part in Wes Craven's horror film Deadly Blessing (1981). During the 1980s, she appeared in many more movies, such as Irreconcilable Differences (1984), King Solomon's Mines (1985), Cold Steel (1987), and Above the Law (1988).
In 1990, Stone had a breakthrough with her part in Paul Verhoeven's science fiction action film Total Recall. However, she wouldn’t rise to international stardom until a year later, when she portrayed Catherine Tramell in another Verhoeven film, the thriller Basic Instinct (1992).
Although her role in Basic Instinct earned her first Golden Globe Award, Stone admitted that filming this film was no easy task. In fact, she said that making the film "was taking a toll on everybody."
Adding, "[Paul] Verhoeven [director] ended up in the hospital—his sinus thing ruptured, and he couldn't stop having a nosebleed," she recalled. "There was tremendous pressure on that set." She added that doing such a sensual movie "was very new" and groundbreaking at that time.
Kelly Lynch Turned Down Sharon Stone's Role In Basic Instinct, But She Has No Regrets About It
Before casting Sharon Stone, the role of Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct was given to Kelly Lynch. This actress has already had notable film roles in movies like Cocktail, Road House, and Drugstore Cowboy. However, she ended up turning down this iconic Basic Instinct role because she had recently become a mother.
“As interesting and titillating as I thought that movie was, with a kid you just make different decisions,” Lynch told People.
“But I don’t regret a bit of that.” This turned out to be a great opportunity for Sharon Stone, who was trying to get her big break in Hollywood and finally managed it with this role.
But getting this role was no easy feat. In fact, Stone revealed that she had to steal the Basic Instinct script to audition.
Her then manager, “Chuck had to break into the casting director’s office with his credit card and steal the script, so we could read it.” Stone’s memoir reads, “as no one would give it to us. I knew right away that I wanted to play that part. Chuck then called the director, Paul Verhoeven, every day for seven or eight months to get me a screen test.”
Despite the director agreeing to a screen test, Stone had yet another obstacle to overcome.
“I had already done Total Recall with Paul, but Michael Douglas didn’t want to test with me,” Stone wrote in her memoir. “Hey, I was a nobody compared to him, and this was such a risky movie. So Paul tested with me, and kept playing my test after those of everyone else who had tested.”
Starring in Basic Instinct Helped Sharon Stone’s Career But Destroyed Her Personal Life
Starring in Basic Instinct did wonders for Sharon Stone’s career. Her performance in this thriller earned her a Golden Globe Award and international stardom. However, her newfound fame negatively affected her personal life.
On more than one occasion, Stone has admitted that she really wasn’t prepared to become famous. After Basic Instinct came out, she found herself the subject of immense adoration. Audiences were in such a frenzy that, following the film’s Cannes screening, fans broke into Stone’s hotel room and stole all her belongings.
As if this wasn’t enough, her role in Basic Instinct ruined Stone’s personal life because it was used against her when fighting for custody of her adopted son.
During an episode of the Table for Two podcast, the Total Recall admitted, "I lost custody of my child," she told host Bruce Bozzi. A judge had apparently asked her "tiny little tiny boy 'do you know your mother makes sex movies?'" She described the event as an "abuse by the system," also revealing that this took a great toll on her health.
