I posed for Playboy to win sexy roles, says Sharon, 62
SHE made her name as a Hollywood sex symbol and at 62 is still gracing the covers of magazines.
But Sharon Stone has revealed how she has battled ageism and sexism in the film industry. She was once considered too old to star with Mel Gibson, even though he is older than her.
The Basic Instinct actress says she felt she had to play up her desirable side in a bid to win roles. This meant stripping off to pose for Playboy in 1990 – just as she came to prominence in Total Recall – she told German Vogue.
‘At the beginning... I was too masculine, athletic and muscular, so pretty unsexy,’ she said. ‘To be perceived differently, I had myself photographed half-naked for Playboy.’
Within two years she had landed the part of Catherine Tramell in the erotic thriller Basic Instinct, leading to her being feted as one of the leading Hollywood sex symbols of the era.
But not long afterwards, though still in her 30s, she was told she was too old for a role with the older Mel Gibson. ‘It was a pretty misogynistic era 20 years ago,’ she said. ‘Mel Gibson, who is three years older than me, thought I was too old to star opposite him.’
After a stroke in 2001, when she was 43, left her temporarily unable to speak or walk, she struggled with body confidence and would lock herself away.
She said: ‘There was a point in my 40s when I went into the bathroom with a bottle of wine, locked the door, and said: “I won’t get out until I can fully accept my body.”
‘I started to cry at the sight of my slightly ageing body and face in the magnifying mirror.’
Miss Stone, who adopted three boys between 2000 and 2006, also spoke of her experiences using online dating sites.
She disclosed that she is currently chatting online to an aeronautical engineer after having the ‘worst luck’ with men – both her marriages ended in divorce.
‘You know, when you’re single at this age, there’s usually a reason for that. I count myself in there,’ she said.
The full interview appears in the May edition of German Vogue, out now.