Post viral check: Basic Instinct director denies Sharon Stone’s claim of being ‘tricked into vagina shot’

Pic courtesy: YouTube still from 'Basic Instinct'

New Delhi: The director of the notorious 1992 film 'Basic Instinct' Paul Verhoeven recently denied claims of tricking the lead actress in the film Sharon Stone into performing frontal nudity for the film in a recent interview. 

The director explained that Stone was aware of the fact that her vagina would be visible on-screen as her character was based on a story of a woman that he knew when he was a student. She would cross her legs without panties regularly at parties, he claimed. 

He told Variety, "My memory is radically different from Sharon’s memory. That does not stand in the way and has nothing to do with the wonderful way that she portrayed Catherine Tramell. She is absolutely phenomenal. We still have a pleasant relationship and exchange text messages. But her version is impossible. 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."

He was interrogated about the scene months after the actress Sharon Stone expressed in her memoir that she was tricked into removing her underpants for the shot. She revealed she saw the 'vagina shot' after the movie was filmed. She claimed that the director had coerced her into removing her underwear due to lighting issues.

As per an excerpt of her 'The Beauty of Living Twice' published on Variety, she wrote, "After we shot Basic Instinct, I got called in to see it. Not on my own with the director, as one would anticipate, given the situation that has given us all pause, so to speak, but with a room full of agents and lawyers, most of whom had nothing to do with the project. 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.” 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 bullshit."

For the unversed, the film 'Basic Instinct' is notorious for its leg-crossing scene. In the film, Sharon Stone played the role of a murdered, Catherine Tramell and during a police interrogation, she had uncrossed her legs revealing that she wasn't wearing any underwear. The scene had gained a lot of popularity because of its scandalous nature and still remains a contentious topic. While the actress Sharon Stone has a different version of what happened behind the scenes for her nude shot, director Verhoeven denies any malpractice and claims the actress was aware of the scene.