Sharon Stone: «My basic instinct is work»

She never seemed to lose heart. Sharon Stone — a star by status, a divorced mother of two small (adopted) sons by marital status, an activist against AIDS by the call of the soul — meets her 48th birthday with the premiere of the second «Basic Instinct», an advertising contract with Dior and her own first book, already a bestseller.

It also seems that she has never looked better than now. It’s like those agonizing seven years are behind us — with failed films and professional mistakes, personal problems and family breakdown, unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant and a severe brain hemorrhage. We saw her on the eve of the new, now come year, in her family nest in Beverly Hills, California. Goddess, diva, vamp? Nothing like this. A real Christmas picture: caring mother Sharon and her sons are busy around the Christmas tree. She tries to lift five-year-old Roan higher so that he fastens a star on a branch, and nearby, seven-month-old Layard, in his runners, is concentrating on shiny toys … There is nothing (well, almost nothing) in this woman from that irresistible, sexy and aggressive Stone, who mixed- breeding their endless legs with the main special effect of the cinema of the 90s. To Sharon today, the scene of interrogation of her character from the first film, to put it mildly, is not close: “Repeat something like this in Basic Instinct 2? No, that would be vulgar.»

Psychologies: You often say that you feel more confident and beautiful in your 40s than in your 20s. Why? Does beauty tend to accumulate with age?

Sharon Stone: As we grow older, we acquire a certain wisdom, and common sense, and elegance, and even grace. And, if you like, character. It seems to me that for a long time I did not really live — rather, I solved the problems brought from childhood. By the age of 40, you get tired of it. I want to start living my own life. Middle age is a wonderful time! No prejudice and full willingness to experiment. Although… the most beautiful woman I have ever met was 80!

Dior has chosen you as the face of a new beauty line for middle-aged women. Is it easy to like yourself on the threshold of your 50th birthday?

Sh .: Age has nothing to do with it — I have had the same breast size all my life! (Laughs.) But seriously… You have to choose — there’s nothing you can do about it! If you don’t want to have a huge ass, put in the effort. Refuse desserts, walk so that an extra couple of kilograms does not turn into seven … I know very well how this happens. When I was 30, between films, I calmly allowed myself to gain weight. And somehow I decided to make myself a birthday present — I dropped three sizes at once and kept the new weight. I am convinced that not only appearance, but our whole life is largely the result of our own efforts. After all, discipline is freedom. I want to be free.

Your book Something To Hold is about guardian angels. You claim that they exist and help everyone, regardless of their faith. You haven’t discussed spiritual topics before…

Sh .: A lot has changed. I have traveled almost all over the world with the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Talked to the infected, their families, friends and social workers. I met scientists who work seven days a week, without leaving the laboratories and without seeing their families, to save the sick. So many people deal with grief and suffering every day! What can I do for them? Nothing! My best friend Mimi Craven went with me. Returning home after all these hospices, orphanages, orphanages and laboratories, we just sat down and burst into tears. And then we decided that we should somehow demonstrate our participation and support to these people. And so this book was born. Mimi found some great photos of the angel sculptures and I wrote my comments. They contain what I have been thinking about for many years, what I have talked about with people, what I think is important.

What brought you to the foundation?

Sh .: I think fate. AIDS touched me personally: because of it, I lost loved ones. And I am very proud that I could be useful at least to someone.

You write that guardian angels are involved in our lives. Have you had personal experience?

Sh .: I had a brain hemorrhage. I do not think that I would have remained alive without the intervention of a guardian angel.

You talked about your illness in a positive way. How has it changed your attitude towards life?

Sh .: It was like an awakening. I thought: this is it, the end. And the second thing I thought: did I live my life the way I wanted? Have you made the decisions you really wanted to make? I encountered what is called the word «it» — the border, the unknowable. You know, there’s an old cowboy song, Just a Closer Walk with Thee. “You” in this case is God. After my illness, my whole life became a «walk with You».

The release of Basic Instinct 2: Risk Taking, the sequel to the film that made you famous. Why did you decide to return to the role of Katherine Tramell?

Sh .: There are no special reasons. It’s just work.

But it was the «Basic Instinct» that became the turning point in your destiny?

Sh .: Yes, I fully understand that. Before the film was shown at the festival in 92, I was, as we say, Who’s that girl? («Who’s that girl?»). And then immediately became a star and … a star in the role, as we say again, the bitch, bitches. The next day, everything was taken out of my room in a luxurious Cannes hotel, down to my toothbrush. Of course, I am proud and grateful to the fate for the glory brought by «Basic Instinct», but … My destiny is work. I come from a very humble family with Irish roots. Mom did housework, and also distributed Avon cosmetics, dad worked in a factory. Everything in our family was strict: we, four children, appeared for dinner exactly when it was said, and got up from the table when dad said that dinner was over. My parents professed the principle: if you have a chance to work, then work hard! By the way, my father was a real feminist in this matter. He never inspired me with the idea that a woman is limited in her abilities or flawed in terms of her career. For the working environment, such views are a position!

The main thing Basic Instinct has given you is…

Sh .: He helped me gain confidence in myself. I never thought I was pretty and driven enough to be a movie star. I was never truly a child. I went to school when I was five years old. I remember well how I used to hide with a flashlight in the far corner of the apartment, where no one saw me, and sat there for a long time with a book. Neither the victory in the local beauty contest, nor the shooting in advertising, nor the first film roles freed me from an inferiority complex. After «Instinct» I believed in myself and that I can even be admired! But then life immediately made me understand that fame and glory have another side. You see, there are dark and light stripes, but sometimes in life everything happens at the same time. The most amazing things happen in the worst times and vice versa…

What’s wrong with your success?

Sh .: I am lost. It suddenly turned out that the celebrity does not belong to himself at all. Star status is luxury, brilliance, sensations, flashes. Bustle. In the following years, I made many mistakes — both in choosing films and in choosing myself, so to speak. I was afraid — to miss something, not to do something, not to keep up with something, not to experience something. Well, she suffered from this in every sense — professionally, mentally, and physically. In short, it was a difficult period. Failures in cinema and in personal life. After a few setbacks, the studios didn’t want to do business with me. My agent said that I should do Catwoman. He said: you need to appear in a blockbuster, otherwise you will never get new roles. I agreed, but it didn’t change anything. Because something must change inside, not in circumstances. I often asked myself: why am I leading such a life? And she couldn’t refuse it. But the moment came when I decided to turn the lost person I had become into a winner. And now I’m reborn like a phoenix.

What helped you?

Sh .: I understood one thing: if you are experiencing a personal drama, give more strength, energy, emotions, money, in the end, to other people. This is the best way to overcome the crisis.

You once said, «Men have never dated me because I am too much of a nuisance.» Do you like to cause trouble?

Sh .: Before, I would have said so. Now it seems to me that being with someone is a serious responsibility. Because partnerships are reality, not fantasy. And I’m real.

Which is better — marriage or free partnership?

Sh .: Both are suitable — with a kind person. But kindness is the hardest thing to find.

Is family important to you?

Sh .: Faith and family are two things that have helped me get through what I’ve been through. My children, my sister Kelly, her husband Bruce, parents. And also the closest friends — our relationship is 20 years old. In fact, this is also a family. They are everything to me.

What does a movie star really need?

Sh .: Three things: an unknown address, friends who knew you before you became a star, and people who love you enough to tell you to your face that you are shit. And yet, like all people, you need to train your soul. Going to museums, going abroad, noticing passers-by on the streets, looking at the sunset — and really seeing its color and light. Chat with unusual people. Avoid those who speak banalities — that’s how I am now!

You have a second son, Layard. Is your experience as a mother with your first one, Roan, any different from your current experience?

Sh .: Two children or ten — there is no difference, I am convinced of this. I run around the house like a scalded one: one is crying, the second is clutching his leg, and the phone is ringing, and the nanny is late … Thank God, she is — it’s a luxury when someone helps. Having children is like living on a burning volcano. Although my sons are, of course, the best in the world. They are smart and gentle and funny. My family believes that children are the best thing I have done in my life. Children, not «Basic Instinct» at all.

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