Sharon Stone says Basic Instinct scene now seems ‘very ordinary’ compared to today’s raunchy scenes, as star talks about on-screen sex moving away from ‘male fantasy’

Sharon Stone said her iconic and controversial interrogation scene in Basic Instinct now seems “very ordinary” compared to today’s raunchy movies.

The 66-year-old actress played the seductive Catherine Tramell in the 1992 film, in the famous scene where the prime suspect is questioned by police, including Michael Douglas.

Amidst the barrage of questions, Catherine distracts them by uncrossing and re-crossing her legs, leaving the men baffled as she was not in her underwear at the time.

Appearing at the Taormina Film Festival, the star said: Deadline -although at the time the scene was considered pornographic, today it would have lost its surprise factor.

She said: ‘(At the time) it seemed like a scandal, and now it seems very, very ordinary.

The 66-year-old actress played the seductive Catherine Tramell in the 1992 film, with the famous scene seeing the prime suspect being questioned by police, Catherine distracts them when she uncrosses and re-crosses her legs, leaving the men baffled as she was not in her underwear at the time.

‘I think now that women are writing, directing, producing, shooting and are increasingly part of film production, movies are less about men writing movies about their fantasies about what women are like.

“And actresses are less asked to act out the male fantasy, and critics are less asked to tell us whether we’re fulfilling the male fantasy or not. The question is more: Are we fulfilling the human condition?”

Reflecting on how filmmaking has changed over the past 30 years, he said: ‘Studio systems have changed dramatically.

‘They went from making a variety of movies to making these giant $100 million, $200 million movies.

‘Thirty years ago we could choose what kind of movies we could watch.

“Streaming services are taking over our business and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think we’re getting back to making smaller movies and a variety of movies, and I think that’s a good thing.”

Despite the moment turning Sharon into an overnight sensation, the Oscar nominee has maintained in the past that she was “tricked” into exposing herself on camera.

In her memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, Sharon described how she furiously slapped its director Paul Verhoeven and walked out of a preview screening of the erotic thriller after discovering that his assurances that she would not appear on screen had been a lie and that audiences could, as she put it, “see as far as Nebraska”.

The 1992 film starred Michael Douglas as Nick Curran, a disgraced homicide detective, and Stone as Catherine, a wealthy heiress who Curran believes has murdered her ex.

Appearing at the Taormina Film Festival, the star said, according to Deadline, that while the scene was considered adult at the time, it would have lost its shocking effect today. He said: “(At the time) it seemed like a scandal, and now it seems like something very, very common.”

For his part, Verhoeven has vehemently rejected her claims that she was taken by surprise during the leg-crossing scene.

She said: ‘Any actress knows what she’s going to see if you ask her to take off her underwear and point the camera at her.’

But the Hollywood veteran has also been adamant that she does not regret making the film.