After she “pretty much owned the ’90s as an actress,” Sharon Stone said she “reconsidered” what mattered to her when she suffered a stroke in 2001 that left her unable to work.
The “Nobody 2” star reflected on the serious health issue that changed her outlook on life in an interview with Craig Melvin on TODAY that aired Aug. 18.
Nearly dying from a stroke she suffered in September 2001 shifted her priorities at a time where she was coming off starring performances in hits like “Basic Instinct” and “Casino.”
“Well, in the ‘90s I think it would be fair to say I pretty much owned the ‘90s as an actress,” Stone said. “I stopped when I had a stroke. I had a massive, massive stroke and nearly died, so I couldn’t work.”
Stone, 67, told Willie Geist on Sunday TODAY in 2021 that in addition to the stroke, she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage for nine days in which she realized in the moment “how near death is.” She told Craig in the Aug. 18 interview the ordeal brought home what was most important to her.
“When I reconsidered what value things had to me in life, I really wanted to have children and spend my time with them,” Stone said. “And I only really worked as much as I needed to to support my family. But now my children have left the nest, and now I’m back to work.”
Stone had started a family shortly before suffering her stroke. After enduring nine miscarriages, she and ex-husband Phil Bronstein adopted their son Roan, 25, in 2000.
She went on to adopt sons Laird, 20, in 2005, and Quinn, 19, in 2006. All three of her boys joined her for the premiere of “Nobody 2” in Los Angeles on Aug. 11.
The Oscar-nominated actor told Variety in 2019 that it took her seven years to recover from her stroke, personally and professionally.
“I had to remortgage my house. I lost everything I had. I lost my place in the business. I was like the hottest movie star, you know?” she told Variety. “It was like Miss Princess Diana and I were so famous — and she died and I had a stroke. And we were forgotten.”
Stone has since spoken with candor about her past successes, as well as failures like the widely panned “Basic Instinct” sequel that came out in 2006.
“I’m at that stage in my life where I already retired once, and I already died a couple of times,” she said on TODAY while commenting on the sequel and her skepticism of the recently announced “Basic Instinct” reboot. “I’m like, ‘What are you going to do? Kill me again? Go ahead.'”
Her latest role is as Lendina, an unhinged crime boss in “Nobody 2,” the sequel to the action film starring Bob Odenkirk as an unlikely assassin. Stone will also be part of the anticipated third season of HBO’s “Euphoria.”
“I want to leave it on the screen because it lasts forever,” Stone said. “And I won’t. And I’m sure of that.”
