Sharon Stone Says Most Big Stars Hate Women, But Not These Two
Sharon Stone names Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as two of the best stars she's ever worked with, as they respect women.
Sharon Stone has had a long and successful career in Hollywood playing a wide variety of characters, but the actress admits that she’s mostly just been asked to take off her clothes and play psychopathic crazy women. In a wide-ranging interview with Variety, the award-winning actress laments that she will forever be best known for Basic Instinct and the way she’s been treated by Hollywood. With two major exceptions, Stone complained about the misogynistic tendencies of big stars that she’s worked with throughout her 40 year career.
“I’ve worked with some of the biggest stars in the business, who will literally talk through my close-up, telling me what they think I should do. They’re so misogynistic — now, that is not Robert De Niro. That is not Joe Pesci, that is not those guys.”
Sharon Stone on misogyny throughout her career
In order to explain the emotions that she drew upon for her mesmerizing cameo in Sam Smith’s Saturday Night Live performance, Sharon Stone related an anecdote about George C. Scott. While working with the star of Patton, he came up to her and said “I want to give you the greatest compliment I could possibly give to someone, honey, you’re the best listener I’ve ever worked with except for my wife.” Stone says that listening to the avant-garde choir of monks performing “Gloria” is what allowed her to give a powerful, wordless performance while barely moving on stage.
In addition to George C. Scott, Sharon Stone named two of her favorite co-stars as being respectful of her as a woman, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Stone worked with both of those stars while filming Casino. As she explains, “I’ve worked with some of the biggest stars in the business, who will literally talk through my close-up, telling me what they think I should do. They’re so misogynistic — now, that is not Robert De Niro. That is not Joe Pesci, that is not those guys.”
Sharon Stone lamented over big name Hollywood stars, whom she did not name, that would talk over her close-ups and give her directions according to what they felt she should do. By comparison, De Niro and Pesci told her to “Give it all to us, baby, just let her rip if you’ve got it, we want it, let’s see what you can do.” The actress’ most positive filming experience came when working with those two, and director Martin Scorsese, one of the only directors named by Stone as being respectful to her while filming.
In Casino, Sharon Stone played Ginger McKenna, a hustler that’s pursued by De Niro and Pesci’s gangsters throughout the years-spanning plot of double-crosses, corruption, and FBI investigations. The role came after Basic Instinct made her a star, with Sliver following soon after as yet another role that mostly existed just to get Stone topless on camera. Casino allowed the star to truly act and show the world what she could do, resulting in an Emmy nomination as Best Actress.
While Sharon Stone won’t name names, going through her filmography, it’s easy to make some guesses as to which big stars were misogynistic towards her. Sliver, filmed after Basic Instinct, co-starred William Baldwin, Intersection was alongside Richard Gere and The Specialist was a Sylvester Stallone film. The Catwoman star admits she can be hard to work with as she’s opinionated and most of the men she’s encountered don’t appreciate that in a woman.
Sharon Stone, on the heels of the amazing musical Saturday Night Live performance, seems primed for a late career re-examination. Guest-starring on the small screen recently, Stone has had parts in The Flight Attendant and Ratched. Hopefully soon the public will get to see one of the biggest stars of the 90’s on the big screen in a role that again lets her demonstrate the acting ability which made her a household name.
