SHARON STONE IS BACK IN ACTION ON ‘AGENT X’
Oscar nominee and big-screen femme fatale Sharon Stone ( Casino, Basic Instinct) moves to TV with TNT’s Agent X (Sunday, 9 p.m. ET/PT), in which she plays the nation’s first female vice president, Natalie Maccabee.
The No. 2 job comes with a cool perk: secret weapon John Case (Jeff Hephner), who battles enemies at home and abroad. The drama features Gerald McRaney, Jamey Sheridan, John Shea and James Earl Jones.
Stone, 57, talks to USA TODAY about Agent X; acting with the legendary Jones; and recovering from a stroke and brain hemorrhage in 2001.
Q: How would you describe Agent X?
A: It’s kind of a popcorn TV show, a political action-thriller that brings current issues into a family environment so you can talk about them but doesn’t have to be so heavy.
Politics are intriguing and the law is interesting and, these days, there’s no end to criminals. So, we try to bring in at least one hot, sexy one every week.
There’s nothing like a hot, sexy criminal to make your Sunday special.
Q: What is the significance of playing Natalie Maccabee?
A: I want (my children) to see a capable woman in the White House, maybe someone who isn’t so likable right off the bat.
Q: Do you get in on the action scenes?
A: I have a couple of small things, but Jeff has worked tirelessly to get himself in this extraordinary physical condition because he does all that stuff. At the end of every episode, he’s lit- erally lying on the floor in the hair-and-makeup room.
Q: What’s it like working with James Earl Jones, who plays the chief justice of the Supreme Court?
A: He’s very dear to me. I started working with him when I was 24. ... I’ve known him all my film career. ... I just love and admire him.
Q: You received a lot of attention for a recent nude photo shoot in Harper’s Bazaar. Were you happy you did that?
A: When I did Shape the year before, I was all nervous, and I worked out and tried so hard. (For Harper’s Bazaar), I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll just do that,’ and I didn’t really think about it. Then, I went to the shoot and, ‘Oh, woooo! I have to do this today.’ It was a bit daunting and then I just rolled through the day. ... I couldn’t have been more surprised that it was such a big deal.
Q: It seems you’re increasing your acting workload.
A: I have three films coming out (including Life on the Line with John Travolta and Mothers Day). I took a job with Steven Soderbergh that I do after the first of the year for HBO that’s a new format for television.” (Details are confidential). She adds that Soderbergh “is so warm and engaging and brilliant.”
Q: Have you fully recovered from the stroke and brain hemorrhage?
A: It took a long time to recover. Then, you have to dig yourself out in your life. You find yourself at the back of the line in your business, as I did. You’re not in the top-10-grossing films anymore. You have to figure yourself out all over again.