As many know, actor Sharon Stone co-starred alongside Oscar-winner Michael Douglas for the 1992 classic Basic Instinct. Although Stone has had nothing but kind words towards her co-star, she once admitted she never truly felt comfortable around him. And that discomfort would later affect her performance.
Michael Douglas originally wanted a bigger star to play his love interest in ‘Basic Instinct’
Sharon Stone smiling alongside Michael Douglas.
Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas | Eric Robert/Getty Images
Although many have praised Ant-Man star Douglas and Stone for their chemistry in Basic Instinct, originally Douglas wanted someone else as his co-lead. This was mainly because the actor admitted to envisioning a bigger star in the role.
“I thought, all right, I’ll handle this, but I want somebody of equal stature to share the risks. I don’t want to be up there all by myself on this one,” Douglas told Entertainment Weekly.
But most of the bigger names director Paul Verhoeven approached for the role backed out of the project.
”I guess they just got scared off. You know Paul,” Douglas continued. “’Yah, yah, there is nud-it-ty, nud-it-ty, yah, show your breasts.’ He’s like an X-ray machine.”