Sharon Stone wants to clear up a rumor about her, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe.
The actress, 65, was credited with reaching into her own pocket to pay DiCaprio’s salary to get him cast in the 1995 western The Quick and the Dead, something for which the Oscar winner, 49, said he asked her many times thanked.
During the making of the film, Stone also pushed for Russell Crowe, a relatively unknown Australian actor, to be cast in the revisionist Western drama.
She had to use some of her power to do it, but the movie didn’t cost her anything financially.
The Hollywood icon laid out the facts in an emphatic post on social media on Monday.
Clearing the air: Sharon Stone clears up rumors about what she did and didn’t do when it came to helping launch the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe
To be clear about the Hollywood Reporter article: Yes, I paid @leonardodicaprio’s salary out of mine,” she said, confirming previous reports.
“No, I didn’t pay @russellcrowe’s,” she wrote, trying to clear the air.
Stone, who was also a producer on the film, said she “asked for the film to be delayed by two weeks so we could bring it here from Australia.”
The determined actress credited fellow producer Mike Medavoy with agreeing to her request and he was the one to cover those costs.
Crowe admitted that, without Stone’s insistence on joining the cast, it could have taken much longer for him to be cast in Hollywood.
“If it hadn’t been her because of her great dedication, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to get an American film,” he revealed on Late Night with Seth Meyers in August 2020.
“I owe her a lot.”
The Australian star said the actress who played a gunslinger in the film “was in a sword fight with the male producers of the film, and she put her foot down and said, ‘I’m going to hire the person I want to hire if it kind of love interests,” he explained.
Confirmation: On Monday, the actress, 65, wrote in a social media post: “Yes, I paid @leonardodicaprio’s salary out of mine” when the two worked on 1995’s The Quick and the Dead
Clarification: The actress wrote, “No, I didn’t pay @russellcrowe’s, but I did ask for the film to be delayed by two weeks so we could get it here from Australia.” She credited producer Mike Medavoy with agreeing to the delay and covering costs
The film did not do well at the box office, earning only $47 million, but did cover the $37 million it cost to make.
Two years later, Crowe starred in the gritty police drama LA Confidential and was on his way to starring in his Oscar-winning performance in 2000’s Gladiator.
Although he was in his early twenties at the time, DiCaprio established himself as a leading man in Romeo + Juliet in 1996 and again in the 1997 megahit Titanic.
For her part, after The Quick and the Dead, Stone received her one and only Academy Award nomination for her work in Martin Scorsese’s 1995 Casino, which was released several months later.
Nomination: After The Quick and the Dead, Stone received her one and only Academy Award nomination for her work in Martin Scorsese’s 1995 Casino, released several months later
Breakthrough: Two years later, Crowe starred in the gritty police drama LA Confidential and was on his way to starring in his Oscar-winning performance in 2000’s Gladiator. He credited Stone’s “strength and dedication” with helping him persevere breaking into Hollywood
Lead Actor: Although he was in his early 20s at the time, DiCaprio established himself as a leading man in Romeo + Juliet in 1996 and again in the 1997 megahit Titanic.
Still leading the way, DiCaprio is currently starring in the critically acclaimed Killers of the Flower Moon, which has won many awards. Seen here with co-star Lily Gladstone
The Quick and the Dead was her first experience as a producer, but she has used those skills in more than a dozen other projects.
Some are close to her heart, including the documentaries The Invocation and We The People.
DiCaprio is currently starring in Killers of the Flower Moon, which has won many awards.
The gritty drama is currently in theaters, but will begin streaming on Apple+ after its theatrical run.
