Sharon Stone says shooting for 'Basic Instinct' was a "scary" process

The 65-year-old actress told People at VultureFest that creating 'Basic Instinct' was a "scary" process that forced her to look at herself in ways that were frequently uncomfortable as she talked about the genre's growing popularity. Due to its graphic sexual content, the 1992 film, which also stars Michael Douglas and Jeanne Tripplehorn, caused controversy when it was first released.

"I got to confront my whole self, and that's a scary journey," she admitted. "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. And once you do that, you get quite a bit of confidence because you've really looked into the dark mirror."

Stone said it's been "fun" to see the genre experiencing a revival more than 30 years later. "I think people like that. It's fun and it's exciting and they're sexy. I mean, what's wrong with that?" she told People.

Stone claimed that writing her memoir, 'The Beauty of Living Twice', which details traumatic childhood experiences, required her to delve deeply into her past.

"It was very freeing because it's the same thing," she explained. "You can't pull any punches when you're writing. You have to sit down and write the truth and not worry about how other people feel about it."

She continued, "I think when you do that, you can't keep telling yourself pretty truths. You have to confront your own, the actual thing that's real and true for you. And that was helpful. That's always helpful."

Stone spoke candidly about her newfound love of painting during a VultureFest panel discussion with film critic Jerry Saltz. She also shared the unexpected occasion that gave her the idea to pick up a brush.

The 'The Casino' star recalls having a seizure after being anaesthetized for a root canal. She agreed to go forward with the treatment, so the dentist tried to distract her by talking about her work in prisons teaching forgiveness.

According to People, Stone said hearing the dentist's testimony was incredibly eye-opening and helped her realize that she could be forgiven for her own mistakes -- including her missteps as a mother. In 2004, she lost custody of the son she shared with her then-husband Phil Bronstein. Earlier this year, she revealed on the Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi podcast that the judge in the case made assumptions about her parenting because of her brief nude scene in Basic Instinct.

Stone's perspective has changed as a result of the basic lesson of forgiveness. "It really changed my life," she explained. "It changed my life about everything, about to be my best in the circumstances that I was in. And that's how I ended up painting."

Now, Stone paints daily and even shows her work publicly. "I bought real brushes and I started to regain my control, my brush movements," she told The Art Newspaper in March. "I painted and painted and painted, and I re-found myself. I re-found my heart. I re-found my centre," reported People. (ANI)