Sharon Stone blasts Marvel filmmaker for lack of loyalty and gratitude after she gave him huge career break

Sharon Stone slammed filmmaker Sam Raimi after he says that he didn’t acknowledge the break she gave him earlier in his career.

The Basic Instinct star, 66, made the remarks about Raimi during a Q&A period at a news conference in Turin, Italy during the Torino Film Festival last week, Deadline reported Monday.

The Oscar-nominated actress spoke about the Spider-Man filmmaker amid the screening at the festival of the The Quick and the Dead, the 1995 Western that Stone starred in and Raimi directed.

Stone, who played the role of Ellen in the movie opposite Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Gary Sinise and Leonardo DiCaprio, spoke about the influence she had in making the motion picture, which arrived in theaters in February of 1995.

‘I had my great Italian cinematographer Dante Spinotti, and I was very blessed to produce and to have the opportunity to cast this film,’ said Stone, who also made headlines for her political comments at the festival. 

She continued, ‘The director Sam Raimi, who I had an opportunity to bring from B movies to A movies, and then he directed Spider-Man and became a very big A movie director.’

Stone said she ‘really enjoyed producing’ and was proud of having a hand in casting DiCaprio and Crowe ahead of their respective career breakouts with 1997’s Titanic and 2000’s Gladiator.

‘Sam was a kid and he doesn’t have loyalty, he doesn’t have family, he didn’t ever talk to me again, he didn’t thank me, he didn’t hire me again, he didn’t acknowledge the relationship.

Stone said her personal feelings for Raimi did not influence her high opinion of his work, while comparing him to another filmmaker she’s collaborated with, Martin Scorsese.

‘In Sam Raimi’s case, I really liked his films,’ Stone said. ‘I thought he was very intelligent and very funny – different from Marty Scorsese, because he’s Italian, he has loyalty, he has that family feeling.

‘And because of it Marty and I still have a relationship and because of it Marty and I still work together.’

Among the projects Stone and Scorsese have collaborated on include 1995’s Casino, which earned Stone her lone career Oscar nod playing the role of Ginger.

Stone was part of an ensemble cast that included Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and James Woods, as well as the late Frank Vincent, Alan King and Don Rickles.

Stone in the news conference said that sexism in Hollywood hindered her career behind the camera, as she was working on directing a film at one point about three decades back.

Stone played the role of Ellen in the movie – which arrived in theaters in February of 1995 –  opposite Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, Gary Sinise and Leonardo DiCaprio 

Stone said of Raimi, ‘Sam was a kid and he doesn’t have loyalty, he doesn’t have family, he didn’t ever talk to me again, he didn’t thank me, he didn’t hire me again, he didn’t acknowledge the relationship.’ The filmmaker pictured in 2022 in LA 

Stone was honored with the Stella della Mole award during the festival on November 22 

‘After I produced The Quick and the Dead, I came to the studio, I asked for $14 million,’ she said. ‘I had a script, I had the music, I had everything. I pitched it everywhere.

‘I was told it was the best pitch anyone ever heard, but really – a woman – ultimately in my period in the ’90s and the early 2000s, the resistance to women working, to me working, was so great that I couldn’t get back to direct and that was unfortunate, but I feel that my intelligence was wasted trying to convince lesser intelligent studio heads to allow me to direct.’

Stone said she was eventually asked to assist in the casting department for studios, ‘which [she] did because obviously [she] was very good at producing.’

Stone added, ‘I just feel the resistance to women having power, the resistance to me having power, was very big and the resistance to allowing my intelligence to be helpful has been enormous and by people of lesser intelligence.’