‘Basic Instinct’ director Paul denies tricking Sharon Stone into leg-crossing scene

"Basic Instinct" director has come out and responded against the allegations that he tricked Sharon Stone into doing the famous leg-crossing scene.

The popular actress stated in her memoir, "The Beauty Of Living Twice", that Verhoeven tricked her into shooting the scene without underwear, reports NME.

Paul suggested that Stone's underwear was reflecting the light poorly, and asked her to remove them with the assurance that no frontal nudity would appear in the final film.

"My memory is radically different from Sharon's memory," the director told Variety in a new interview published on Wednesday, 7 July. "That does not stand in the way and has nothing to do with the wonderful way that she portrayed Catherine Tramell. She is absolutely phenomenal."

"We still have a pleasant relationship and exchange text messages. But her version is impossible. She knew exactly what we were doing. I told her it was based on a story of a woman that I knew when I was a student who did the crossing of her legs without panties regularly at parties.

"When my friend told her we could see her vagina, she said, 'Of course, that's why I do it.' Then Sharon and I decided to do a similar sequence."

When asked why studios don't make "erotic thrillers" like Basic Instinct anymore, Verhoeven said: "There's been a general shift towards Puritanism. I think there's a misunderstanding about sexuality in the United States. Sexuality is the most essential element of nature. I'm always amazed people are shocked by sex in movies."