"It made me an icon": Sharon Stone on her infamous 'Basic Instinct' leg-crossing scene

The controversial scene featured Stone, who played the role of crime novelist Catherine Tramell alongside Michael Douglas (Detective Nick Curran), crossing her legs while being questioned, revealing that she wasn't wearing underwear.

"I very much believe that none of us knew at the time what we were getting in regard to that shot, and when Paul [Verhoeven] got it, he didn't want to lose it, and he was scared to show me. And I get that," recalled Stone.

"Once I had time to calm down, I didn't make him take it out of the movie when I had the legal right to," she said, adding, "So I did have the chance to do it differently, and I didn't because once I had the chance to step back, I understood, as the director, not the girl in the film, that that made the movie better."

Although having claimed in 2023 that she lost custody of her son following her role in Basic Instinct, Stone revealed that she has no hard feelings, reported People.

"It made me an icon, but it didn't bring me respect. But would I do it again? We don't get to make these choices in life. I don't participate in the fantasy world in this way," she said.

"What I did with what happened is exactly the way I wanted to do it. Verhoeven and I have a wonderful relationship," Stone added,

'Basic Instinct' is set to get a reboot, with the film's original writer, Joe Eszterhas, penning the script.

Stone previously said that making the iconic film took a toll on everyone involved. "Paul Verhoeven [director] ended up in the hospital--his sinus thing ruptured, and he couldn't stop having a nosebleed," she said. "There was tremendous pressure on that set."

"Now people walk around showing their penises on Netflix, but in the olden days, what we were doing was very new," she continued. "This was a feature film for a major studio, and we had nudity, sex, homosexuality, all these things that, in my era, were breaking norms," she added, reported People. (ANI)