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Sharon Stone applauded for candidly questioning why Meryl Streep is considered world’s greatest actor

‘Meryl was not gonna be good in Basic Instinct or Casino,’ Stone said

Jacob Stolworthy
Wednesday 23 June 2021 03:16 EDT
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Basic Instinct (1992) - Trailer

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Sharon Stone is being applauded after candid resurfaced comments about Meryl Streep raised eyebrows online.

A fan of Stone’s shared an excerpt from an interview published last month after noticing it was Streep’s birthday.

The interviewer at Everything Zoomerwas speaking to Stone ahead of the publication of her memoir The Beauty of Living Twice, and asked her what it had been like to “finally” work with Streep in Steven Soderbergh film The Laundromat.

“I like the way you phrase that, that I finally got to work with Meryl Streep,” Stone replied. “You didn’t say, ‘Meryl finally got to work with Sharon Stone.’ Or we finally got to work together.”

She then went deeper, adding: “Because that’s the way her life went, she got built up to be, ‘Everyone wants to work with Meryl.’ I wonder if she likes that?”

Stone, who claimed she can play a “much better villain”, reeled off a list of actors who are “equally as talented” as Streep.

“The business was set up that we should all envy and admire Meryl because only Meryl got to be the good one. And everyone should compete against Meryl. I think Meryl is an amazingly wonderful woman and actress. But in my opinion, quite frankly, there are other actresses equally as talented as Meryl Streep.

She added that “the whole Meryl Streep iconography is part of what Hollywood does to women”.

She named Viola Davis, Emma Thompson, Judy Davis, Olivia Colman, and Kate Winslet as actors who deserve as much recognition as Streep.

Stone, addressing her previous credits, said that she thinks Streep herself would admit that she was ”not gonna be good in Basic instinct or Casino”.

The Twitter post went viral, with many praising Stone for saying what they believe plenty of other Hollywood stars would be too afraid to admit.

“I love Meryl Streep and I can also get what Sharon Stone is saying,” one person wrote.

Another added: “Meryl Streep couldn’t do Basic Instinct but Sharon Stone could do Mamma Mia.

One person acknowledged that, while Streep “is a near-perfect actress”, there are a host of others, including Glenn Close, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Rooney Mara, Kerry Washington and Regina King, who “are just as great on their best day”.

Sharon Stone took exception to being asked what it had been like to ‘finally’ work with Streep
Sharon Stone took exception to being asked what it had been like to ‘finally’ work with Streep (AFP via Getty Images)

They concluded: “Sharon Stone is 100 per cent right.”

Another social media user added: “I do love Meryl Streep and think she is a phenomenal actress but Sharon Stone is right!!!!!!”

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