It’s a clear spring morning in Los Angeles when Sharon Stone pops up on my computer screen. Dressed in jeans and a loose white T-shirt declaring “Dear Stress, Let’s Break Up,” she’s just as dazzling as the first time I saw her as Ginger MyKenna in Martin Scorsese’s Casino (and instantly fell in love). In just a few weeks, she’ll be at the Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of her next project, Cristian Mungiu’s Fjord. But today, it’s just us (even if we’re miles away from each other).
She takes me—or her laptop, with me on the screen—on a tour through her home. We stop by her studio, a vast room where the actress has revived the hobby of her youth, painting. Now she’s a critically acclaimed abstract artist. She’s also a mother, stroke survivor (in 2001, she had a massive hemorrhage and a seven-year recovery battle), and so much more.
You’re inspiring so many generations of women—perhaps, because you seem not to feel the pressure of perfection.
Sharon Stone: You’re wrong, I’m just as neurotic and in just as much trouble as everyone else! People often only see the retouched version of you in photos. But I’m not as fantastically perfect as people imagine! I’m not exceptional. I have dark circles under my eyes like everyone else. I’ve just had to be very disciplined all these years, and I still am; it’s like an OCD thing. Except for this winter, when we had four months here in Los Angeles with appalling weather, and I did nothing. The sun finally came out, though, and with it, my gym sessions and my usual routine.
I exercise for an hour and a half, five days a week, in my swimming pool. I do aquagym routines underwater, with two-and-a-half-kilo weights on each ankle and then on each arm. It’s important to do these exercises below the surface level, to be completely in the water. When I’ve finished my aquatic exercise, I sit on the pool steps and pedal with my legs.
Are you a classic Californian, obsessed with green juices and avocados? Or what do you love to eat?
I come from a fairly modest background, so I like simple food. I drink milk, eat fruit and vegetables, and things like that. I eat healthy to be healthy. My ancestry is French, so I do love that cuisine. I have an unforgettable memory of a dinner at the Grand Palais where the chef prepared a magnificent Tournedos Rossini with mashed potatoes, just like my grandmother used to make—I love it! When I think of that dish, all I want to do is return to France!
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