Sharon Stone has opened up about the massive gender pay gap she experienced in Hollywood, recalling how she earned a fraction of her male co-star’s salary despite starring in one of the most iconic films of the 1990s.
Speaking at the Zurich Film Festival, the Basic Instinct actress shared an early career anecdote about the stark difference between her own salary and that of her male co-star.
“I made $500,000 on Basic Instinct and Michael made $14 million.”
Released in 1992, Basic Instinct became one of the most talked-about thrillers of its era. The film follows a San Francisco detective investigating a brutal murder, only to become entangled with a seductive and mysterious crime novelist played by Sharon Stone. Her co-star Michael Douglas, already a major Hollywood name at the time, played detective Nick Curran.
The movie became a global box office hit and cemented Stone’s status as an international star. It also produced one of the most infamous scenes in film history — the interrogation scene where Stone’s character Catherine Tramell, dressed in a white mini-dress, crosses and uncrosses her legs while being questioned by police. The moment became one of the most recognisable images of 1990s cinema and turned Stone into an overnight pop-culture icon.
Despite the film’s success — and the fact that her performance was central to its notoriety — Stone says the pay difference between her and Douglas was staggering.
While the role made her instantly famous, Stone has previously said the success didn’t translate into financial security. “I made not enough money to buy my dress to go to the Oscars the next year,” she once recalled when discussing the aftermath of the film’s release.
However, the actress says she quickly learned not to accept such treatment in future projects.
“When I said I wanted to make more money, on my next movie maybe I could make $2 million, they said, No! Women don't make over one.”
“I said, that doesn't seem fair. I'm not going to do that. And they said, ‘Oh yes you are.’ And I said, ‘No I don't think so.’”
Stone then sought advice from her father, who gave her the confidence to walk away.
“Then I talked to my dad. He said ‘you don't have to do anything.’ And I said ‘What am I gonna do?’ He replied: ‘You're gonna remember you look good in a burlap bag!’”
“I said: ‘What will happen if I don't work?’ He said ‘you have the biggest movie in the world. Let's see if you don't work…’”
Stone’s gamble ultimately paid off. Following the success of Basic Instinct, she became one of Hollywood’s most recognisable stars throughout the 1990s, appearing in major films including Total Recall, Casino, The Quick and the Dead, Sliver, and The Specialist. Her performance in Casino earned her an Academy Award nomination and cemented her reputation as a serious dramatic actress.
But Stone is far from the only Hollywood star to speak out about the industry’s gender pay gap.
In 2015, Jennifer Lawrence revealed she discovered she had been paid significantly less than her male co-stars after the Sony Pictures hack exposed studio emails about salaries.
“When the Sony hack happened and I found out how much less I was being paid than the lucky people with d—s, I didn’t get mad at Sony. I got mad at myself.”
She added that women are often discouraged from negotiating harder.
“I failed as a negotiator because I gave up early.”
@jenniferlawrenceofficia #jenniferlawrence #talkshow #interview #equality #inequality #women #men #pay ♬ original sound - jenniferlawrenceoffi
Emma Stone has also discussed the issue, revealing that some male colleagues had taken pay cuts so that she could receive equal pay.
“In my career so far, I’ve needed my male co-stars to take a pay cut so that I may have parity with them. And that’s something they do for me because they feel it’s what’s right and fair.”
Meanwhile Jessica Chastain has repeatedly criticised the industry for undervaluing female performers.
“There’s a pay gap in every industry, but in our business it’s particularly shocking because everything is so public.”
@femalequotient The #paygap in Hollywood is significant. #JessicaChastain is an #AcademyAward ♬ original sound - Female Quotient
Even Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron has admitted she had to fight for equal pay with male co-stars.
“When I started fighting for equal pay, that’s when things started to change for me.”
For Stone, the fight is far from over. Decades after Basic Instinct, she says the industry still has work to do when it comes to closing the gap between male and female stars.
