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Sharon Stone says she was tricked into ditching underwear for infamous Basic Instinct scene

<p>The leg-crossing scene in 1992 thriller <em>Basic Instinct</em> has become one of the most iconic moments in film history</p>

The leg-crossing scene in 1992 thriller Basic Instinct has become one of the most iconic moments in film history

Rex Features

Sharon Stone has revealed that she was duped into exposing her intimate area on camera for what is perhaps the most iconic scene of her career.

In an excerpt of her new memoir, obtained by Vanity Fair, Stone, 63, alleged that a member of the Basic Instinct production team instructed her to remove her underwear for the film’s infamous interrogation sequence.

They assured her that the flash of her private parts as she crossed her legs would not be visible on film.

The actress wrote in The Beauty of Living Twice that she only discovered she’d been misled when she was called to see the finished movie for the first time "with a room full of agents and lawyers.”

"That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I’d been told, ‘We can’t see anything—I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on,’ " she wrote.

"Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I’m the one with the vagina, in question, let me say: The other points of view are bull****. … It was me and my parts up there."

Following the viewing, Stone said she slapped the film’s director Paul Verhoeven “across the face” and called her lawyer Marty Singer.

He told her that "it wasn’t legal to shoot up my dress in this fashion," and so, according to the Screen Actors Guild, the movie shouldn’t be made.

"I let Paul know of the options Marty had laid out for me. Of course, he vehemently denied that I had any choices at all. I was just an actress, just a woman; what choices could I have?" she continued.

"But I did have choices. So I thought and thought and I chose to allow this scene in the film. Why? Because it was correct for the film and for the character; and because, after all, I did it."

Later, she argued: "Do you have any idea how many people have watched Basic Instinct in the last 20-something years? Think about it. It’s about more than just a peek up my skirt, people.”

The memoir also sees Stone open up about other instances of predatory behaviour on set.

One director would constantly demand that she sat on his lap when he was instructing her, she claims.

Another producer encouraged her to “f***” her co-star “so that we could have onscreen chemistry”.

She recalled that the actor had been struggling to perform a single scene well, adding: “Now you think if I f*** him, he will become a fine actor? Nobody’s that good in bed."

More: Why does the media continue to depict ambitious and successful women as threats?

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