‘Basic Instinct’ Director Denies Sharon Stone Claim Over Nude Scene

In her memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, actress Sharon Stone alleged that she was tricked by director Paul Verhoeven on the set of Basic Instinct in order to film that infamous nude scene where her character Catherine Tramell uncrosses her legs and reveals that she wasn’t wearing underwear. Verhoeven addressed her tale in a new interview with Variety, claiming that Stone was aware of what was happening while filming and that his recollection of filming the scene was “radically different from Sharon’s memory.”

“Her version is impossible,” Verhoeven said, acknowledging that he still has a “pleasant relationship” with the actress. “She knew exactly what we were doing. I told her it was based on a story of a woman that I knew when I was a student who did the crossing of her legs without panties regularly at parties. When my friend told her we could see her vagina, she said, ‘Of course, that’s why I do it.’ Then Sharon and I decided to do a similar sequence.”

In her memoir, Stone explained that she was told that her private parts would not be visible and was shown the final cut in “a room full of agents and lawyers, most of whom had nothing to do with the project,” and she slapped Verhoeven when she was made aware of her nudity. “That was how I saw my vagina — shot for the first time, long after I’d been told, ‘We can’t see anything — I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on,’” read an excerpt obtained by Vanity Fair.

“Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I’m the one with the vagina, in question, let me say: The other points of view are bulls—. It was me and my parts up there,” Stone explained. After the viewing ended, Stone slapped “Paul across the face, left, went to my car, and called my lawyer, Marty Singer.” Singer informed her the film could not be shown as is due to the Screen Actors’ Guild’s regulations.

“It wasn’t legal to shoot up my dress in this fashion,” she explained. “I let Paul know of the options Marty had laid out for me. Of course, he vehemently denied that I had any choices at all. I was just an actress, just a woman; what choices could I have? But I did have choices. So I thought and thought and I chose to allow this scene in the film. Why? Because it was correct for the film and for the character; and because, after all, I did it.”