A Star is Reborn: Sharon Stone is poised for her Hollywood comeback.
By Michelle Talsma Everson
When many people think of actress Sharon Stone’s leading roles, they might think back to Basic Instinct, which was made in 1992.
(Let’s put it in perspective—if Basic Instinct was a person, they’d be graduated from college, working, and possibly a parent by now.) Luckily for her biggest fans, Stone has done some incredible work since her Basic Instinct days—including a recent comeback that proves the 60-year-old is a Hollywood force to be reckoned with.
One part of Stone’s re-emergence is her leading role in the film All I Wish.
“To see Sharon Stone in a movie these days is to be reminded of how much you’ve missed her since the last one,” notes an article in Variety magazine. “Her star quality is particular: a cool, crackling, slightly ribald confidence in her own charisma that hasn’t been especially well-tended, much less replicated, by Hollywood in the last 20-odd years…”
In an article by the Chicago Tribune—and also noted by several other media outlets—it comes to light that Stone advocated for a role meant for a woman half her age in All I Wish.
“The most remarkable thing about All I Wish, written and directed by Susan Walter, is the casting — but what a difference it makes for this light romantic comedy,” the Chicago Tribune notes. “Star Sharon Stone was originally offered the mother role, but convinced Walter she should play the daughter, Senna, instead. So Senna became 46, not 25, and Stone stepped into one of her more winning roles in a long time. With an older woman as the lead, this cute rom-com takes on a greater depth and poignancy than it would have with standard 20-something stars.”
A recent article in Salon provides its readers with a comprehensive summary of All I Wish’s plotline: “Sharon Stone plays Senna, a vivacious 46-year-old woman whose life unfolds one birthday at a time over a succession of years. Dreaming of being a fashion designer, Senna works as a buyer for a boutique. The day she loses her job is also the night she meets Adam (Tony Goldwyn), a lawyer who insults her before realizing they were being set up on a date. As the years pass, Senna and Adam connect romantically, but she is against marriage, and he can’t quite figure out what Senna wants from all of the mixed signals she sends. All I Wish shows how Senna grapples with her feelings about work and relationships, as well as her mother’s (Ellen Burstyn) desire for Senna to get her life together and get married––in any order. Senna only figures out who she is when the people she loves aren’t around.”
Another component to her comeback is her role in the HBO miniseries Mosaic.
“It is a great role and I feel very blessed because I took time out from my career, and to come back to this type of intriguing work… I found it very, very wonderful,” Stone told Deadline at a recent awards event.
“The veteran actress plays Olivia Lake in director Steven Soderbergh’s murder mystery about an investigation into the murder of children’s author, Lake,” Deadline describes as the miniseries’ plot.
This March, Stone turned 60—an age where many Hollywood ladies are looking to retire, and she’s looking to experience a resurgence in her career.
“I thought it was going to hit me in the head like a boulder off the side of the hill while driving on Mulholland,” Stone told Entertainment Tonight of the significance of turning 60. “But it seems that I’m landing on doves, because of all of the love, and just,” she pauses, and then sighs contentedly. “Love. There’s so much love in my life, and it’s so touching and beautiful.” Her voice cracks as she gets momentarily emotional, before laughing it off. “It’s just so beautiful. It’s just so beautiful.”
Entertainment Tonight nicely sums up the recent career milestones that Stone is experiencing: “Though the actress never completely disappeared off the grid, this year sees her return in a big way, in Steven Soderbergh’s whodunit HBO series, Mosaic, and in All I Wish, out March 30, playing a flighty, fedora-wearing, aspiring fashion designer whose story unfolds on the same day each year: Her birthday.
“It’s so darling that it’s coming out on my birthday. I can’t even stand it!” says Stone.
One reason that Stone was away from the spotlight for a bit was her health. Stone shares with Entertainment Tonight that her attitude toward her career changed in 2001, when she suffered a stroke and cerebral hemorrhage.
“I had to make my choices very differently, as a single mother of a 6-year-old, a 1-year-old and a newborn at one point. It was like the woman in the shoe, I had so many young kids,” she recalls to Entertainment Tonight. “You only have two hands and it’s not like people are holding doors, so, it was a busy time. And recovering from brain trauma doesn’t all happen at once.”
Her three sons are now in their early to late teens and, right in the middle of her comeback, Stone is hot as ever now.
“It’s odd to hear Sharon Stone admit she’s no longer ‘first on everyone’s list’ for roles in film and TV, but the Oscar-nominated actress said she’s ‘working my way back up the food chain,’” notes ABC News. “Stone may not be some studios’ first choice, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t willing to wait for unique projects like HBO’s acclaimed Mosaic or The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife opposite another icon, Bette Midler.”
“I’m holding out to get things that I think are interesting. I’m not getting offered everything great every day, but I’m getting great things sometimes,” Stone told ABC News. “It’s figuring my own lane out because my lane has changed dramatically.”
To keep up with all of Stone’s latest projects, follow her on Twitter @sharonstone.
