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Michael Douglas has gained global prominence with his portrayal of Hank Pym in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, his acting career has been going strong since 1969. He has impressed Hollywood with his impeccable work in commercially hit erotic thrillers with films likeFatal Attraction, Disclosure, and Basic Instinct.
His 1992 film,Basic Instinctmade quite headlines at the time due to the steamy scenes which made the film quite controversial. When it first premiered at Cannes Film Festival, it surely made a noise which affected everyone’s dinner!
Michael Douglas’s Basic Instinct Made Viewers Uncomfortable at Cannes!
Also Read:“Paul would come back pretty bruised”: Michael Douglas Asked Producers to Cut Down His Action Scenes After Seeing Paul Rudd Getting “Beat Up” in $476M Film
During his appearance at Cannes Film Festival this May viaVariety,he opened up about everyone’s reaction when his film,Basic Instinctpremiered at the festival in the 90s. Given the explicit scenes which were in the film, the project was“unique, even for France.”
Alongside him, the film starred Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and George Dzundza among several others. He recalled how viewers found it uncomfortable.
“Seeing a lot of those s*x scenes on the Grand Palais’ huge screen, it was a little overwhelming for a lot of people.”
Due to their overwhelming response, they had a hard time processing it.
“We had a very quiet dinner afterwards, everyone was sort of digesting it.”
The film revolves around a homicide detective (Michael Douglas) investigating a rock star’s murder only to get entangled with prime suspect and crime writer, Catherine Tramell (Stone). During the time of its release, the cast and crew were under major public scrutiny especially Stone’s sexuality in the film.
Michael Douglas Addressed Basic Instinct’s Backlash
Douglas was surprised when the film was getting criticism for Sharon Stone’s character being bisexual. During an interview withEntertainment Weeklyin 1992, he addressed the issue stating,
“The gay issue really took me by surprise. I don’t see anybody in the movie being upset because anybody’s bisexual or gay or anything else. Catherine’s bisexuality was just an interesting twist. If you’re going to deal in this detective genre, which has been done to death, you have to look for different twists.”
Not just Sharon’s sexuality but her cross-legged interrogation scene also garnered major backlash. It entirely changed her personal life as the overwhelming attention she received at the time was much more than she could have handled by herself. However, she eventually learned to manage it but lost custody of her son. She revealed at the time that a judge had made judgemental remarks in reference to her character which led to her losing custody.
Despite the backlash,Basic Instinctgrossed $352.9 million worldwide whichis now available to stream on Prime Video.
Source:Variety
Priya Sharma
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Priya Sharma, Senior Content Writer and Social Media Manager at FandomWire and Animated Times. Having graduated in Journalism and Mass Communication, she possesses extensive expertise in crafting engaging and informative content. She has written over 2000 articles across Animated Times and FandomWire on pop culture, showing her dedication to delivering diverse and trending content to readers across the world. Apart from pop culture, she is quite enthusiastic about the Hallyu culture and is exploring the world of anime, expanding the horizons of her knowledge.
