The name Sharon Stone immediately conjures images of the iconic scene from the 1992 film Basic Instinct, in which she played the prime suspect in the murder of a wealthy rock star opposite Michael Douglas. But the overnight fame that accompanied the film's release left the actress ill-prepared and fearing for her life.
Sharon recently revealed that Rocky actor Sylvester Stallone taught her how dangerous fans can be after her meteoric rise to fame in the 90s.
"What Sly said to me is that suddenly you are walking down the street, everyone is doing this [reaching into their pocket], and you don't know if they are going for the pen or the gun," The Sun reported.
She continued, "That's what becomes so unsettling because everybody is doing that, but you don't know why. You feel constantly in this unsettled place that you always have to figure it out, and you have to fix it and be ready."
The 66-year-old explained she was ill-prepared for her overnight fame when the film was first released. Sharon told the Don't Shoot the Messenger podcast that she realized her life had changed when she arrived at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival.
"I didn't have a make-up artist or a hairdresser. I had nothing, not even a security person. Imagine being in Cannes with Basic Instinct and no security."
Fans screamed for her at the event and surrounded her car when she tried to leave; "There were so many people on top of the car that my friends lay me on the ground because the car was being caved in," she said.
Sharon's fear of being shot is rooted in real-life experiences; she also revealed on the podcast that she has had her clothes "torn into shreds" by excited fans wanting a piece of her.
Despite the level of fame the actress was dealing with, she told The Hollywood Reporter recently that achieving stardom had been a "relief" for her. "It was so crazy. As I walked down the carpet in Cannes and a thousand people started chanting my name, I had such a surge of relief come over me, such a feeling of calm."
"I just knew I was going to be a star. So, when it happened, I just suddenly felt like I was in my body."
The mother of three realized soon after the release of Basic Instinct that her life would never be the same again. "When I did Total Recall, I had fame for like three months. But with Basic Instinct, four months went by, five months, six, and the fame wasn't going away.”
Sharon's fear has not stopped her career from flourishing; she is set to star alongside Bob Odendirk in Nobody 2, a film that follows a family man and former government assassin. While not much is known about the film, Sharon will play the film's villain.