Sharon Stone has been a sought-after commodity in the film and television industries for decades. Having had roles in movies and TV since the early 1980s, such as Stardust Memories (1980) and Bay City Blues (1983), she didn’t truly break out as a renown actress until roles such as Lori in Total Recall (1990) and Catherine in Basic Instinct (1992). Since blowing up, she has shown her diverse acting ability in many genres, quickly establishing herself in genres including action, science-fiction, thrillers, and drama.
In fact, some of Stone’s most highly acclaimed and well-known performances have been in the thriller and mystery genres; she thrives on being a woman one shouldn’t mess with, an actress who owns roles where she can be more hard-core, powerful, and edgy. In addition to her knack for being a complete fighter, coupled with her natural beauty, Stone can deliver some massively impactful performances no matter the category of project.
Some of Stone’s recent castings consist of roles in season two of the streaming service HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant (2020) series, where she will play the character of Cassie’s mother, as well as a villain role in DC’s Blue Bettle film that has been in development for years. Sharon Stone remains a very active actress to this day, having accumulated more than 100 roles in film and television combined, captivating audiences time and time again. We certainly look for Sharon Stone to continue to bring great performances to the masses for years to come. Meanwhile, here are Sharon Stone’s best performances, ranked.
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8 Beautiful Joe (2000)
TriStar Pictures
Although Beautiful Joe has received much fair criticism, Sharon Stone and Billy Connolly make this movie, consisting of a confusing plot and mediocre writing, watchable. Sharon Stone plays a con artist, Hush, who’s indebted to the mob with no means of paying her dues. On the run and scared for her life, Hush comes across the lovable title character who has been given the unfortunate news of having life-ending brain cancer.
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While some critics will claim Stone was “overacting” in much of the film, she did an incredible job in her character role of being a scheming, manipulative, and backstabbing woman plagued with an obvious gambling problem. This 2000s comedic-drama is definitely worth a watch for fans of Stone or the genre, alike.
7 Total Recall (1990)
Set on Mars in the distant future of 2084, Sharon Stone plays Lori, the butt-kicking main antagonist in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s original Total Recall. She fronts as Mrs. Quaid, wife to Arnold’s brainwashed character, attempting to further swindle and kill him, a role that perfectly suits her skill set. As her lies and trickery are uncovered throughout the movie, we are posed to see all of her character’s true colors. While the truths are like metaphorical slaps in the face, you can’t help but love her for them.
Her performance in Total Recall caught the eye of many, including the film’s director, Paul Verhoeven. He would proceed to cast her in Basic Instinct soon after, which would become another one of her many iconic roles.
6 Bobby (2006)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer & TheWeinstein Company
Bobby is unmistakably different from most of Sharon Stone’s other works, though her smaller role in this musical bio-drama has such a wonderful taste to it. She plays Miriam Ebbers, “a hardened yet vulnerable hairdresser at the Ambassador Hotel on the night of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination,” as reported by Variety back in 2006. Not only did this low-budget film have immaculate writing and directing, as well as present this historical tragedy with such a beautifully encompassing story and accuracy, but all the actors’ performances in Bobby were indeed deeply moving.
5 The Mighty (1998)
Miramax Films
The Mighty, a coming-of-age drama-comedy, is one of Stone’s warmer and more heartfelt roles. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress in a Drama for her role, a performance that stood the test of time for its genre. She plays a mother, exuding sensational compassion and creating a deep connection with the audience as she tries to steer her son, who is picked on and tormented constantly, in the right direction.
Stone’s character lives a parent’s worst nightmare, seeing the light of her life, her only son, having such a miserable time trying to fit in with others. The nightmare for the family gets worse when Kevin, the son of Stone’s character, continues to deteriorate due to the diagnosis of Morquio Syndrome. Stone’s depiction of the mother longing for a blessing for her son is one nobody should overlook. This film is beautiful, dramatic, and gut-wrenching all wrapped up together.
The Best Sam Raimi Films, Ranked
4 The Quick and The Dead (1995)
Sony Pictures Releasing
The Sam Raimi-Directed film, The Quick and The Dead, is an action-packed western with a good deal of romance. Stone’s character, Ellen, is a mysterious outsider who comes across the small town of Redemption and stumbles upon a gun competition, one with a huge score for the victor. However, it is revealed that the competition is being organized by the town’s villainous, tyrannical leader as a ploy to force someone into an undesirable situation.
Being the hardcore gunslinger that Ellen is, with a personal vendetta against one of the “dirty” players in town, she enters the competition. A competition where she is pretty much counted out by the other competitors and may be pinned against some of the quickest gunslingers to ever walk through Redemption.
3 Broken Flowers (2005)
Focus Features
Broken Flowers, starring Bill Murray, is a comedy-drama film that revolves around the mystery of Murray’s character, Don’s, 19-year-old son, whom he has never heard of prior to receiving an anonymous letter on the matter. As Don searches through his past life and lovers on a mission to solve the mystery of the letter’s origins, he stops to see Laura. One of his lovers from the past, Laura, played by Stone, confirms she is not the source of the puzzling note.
Laura is a widowed mother to an outgoing daughter and is one of the few people to show actual love for Don and his situation. She treats him very kindly and even has him stay the night, treating him to dinner and some sensual alone time before he continues his quest. Stone’s smaller role in this film acts as a strong jumping off point for the story, and her character acts as an amazingly supportive old friend to the main character and his journey.
2 Basic Instinct (1992)
TriStar Pictures
The movie that really jump-started Sharon’s stardom, Basic Instinct, is a drama-driven, erotic mystery-thriller that held some pretty serious controversy at the time for its overly sexual nature and violence. Stone’s character, Catherine, experiences an infamous leg-crossing scene, which Stone recently recalled would have been handled differently in her memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice. In the March 2021 released memoir, Sharon Stone claims she had been reluctant to do a scene where her crotch would be visible, when Director Paul Verhoeven supposedly reassured Stone that her crotch wouldn’t be visible in the film’s final cut. Mr. Verhoeven denies this claim, claiming Sharon knew how the scene would be handled.
Regardless of these claims, Basic Instinct would go on to become one of Stone’s best performances, and she would be awarded the MTV Movie & TV Award for Best Female Performance and the MTV Movie & TV Award for Most Desirable Female.
Best Martin Scorsese Films, Ranked
1 Casino (1995)
Universal Pictures
Casino is a brilliant movie with an all-star cast and crew. From Robert De Niro and Sharon Stone to Nicholas Pilleggi and Martin Scorsese, this film has some real heavy hitters in all aspects of its production. Casino has been considered one of the best films ever for most of the main cast and crew, as well as being nominated for and winning a handful of awards. Some awards include Sharon Stone’s Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) and Thelma Schoonmaker’s 20/20 Award for Best Film Editing.
Stone’s character, Ginger, really stole many of the scenes in the film, and her performance helped catapult this movie into the conversation of being one of the best mobster movies of all time. This three-hour crime drama is held in very high esteem, and fans of the genre and cast must see the nearly 30-year-old film.
