Michael Douglas has pushed back on claims that he and Sharon Stone argued in a chance meeting before starring in Basic Instinct together.
Stone, who recounted her break out role as villainess Catherine Tramell in the 1992 erotic thriller, said in a Business Insider interview Friday that Douglas was initially hesitant to “put his bare ass out on the screen with an unknown.”
“He wouldn’t even test with me, but that was also for a different reason: We had an argument prior to that,” Stone said.
The argument is in reference to a fight between the pair at Cannes Film Festival, where Douglas apparently talked about one of Stone’s acquaintances and their kids.
“So I said something and he responded to me, saying, ‘What the f--- do you know?’ It was in regard to a father-child relationship.”
The pair took the conflict outside, Stone says, where it eventually ended on peaceful terms.
“Yeah, and I explained to him what the f--- I knew about this family he was speaking about, and that I was best friends with the children and the parent. And then we parted. I wouldn’t say as best friends, but amicably. So, fast forward to casting “Basic Instinct,” I don’t think he wanted me to be his costar," Stone said.
Douglas, now 80 years old, has a different rendition of their first meeting.
He was “very surprised” to hear Stone’s statements, according to his representative, Allen Burry, who spoke to People.
“He doesn’t remember any argument in that timeframe” between them, and instead “only remembers seeing and meeting Sharon for the first time when he saw [director] Paul Verhoeven’s screen test of her for Basic Instinct and [Michael] said, ‘Absolutely, she’s the one,’" Burry continues.
Douglas’ only recollection of spending time with Stone at Cannes was after they had already filmed Basic Instinct and were promoting it at the festival.
“And by the time they’d done the movie, they were friends,” Burry said.
Despite their alleged differences, Stone has similarly said since co-starring in the film, the two eventually “became the greatest of friends, to this day.”
“I admire him tremendously,” the 67-year-old said.
If anything, the supposed conflict helped their on-screen chemistry, Stone tells Business Insider.
“It worked great because I was not rattled if he yelled at me,” the actress said. “That was interesting for the character because Michael has a temper, and I didn’t care. That worked very well in our dynamic.”
