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Sharon Stone opens up about Hollywood ignoring her for 20 years after stroke

By John Patrick Magno Ranara Published Jun 08, 2023 8:14 pm

Sharon Stone gave a glimpse of her difficult past as an actress when she shared that Hollywood has not given her any roles for 20 years as a result of her stroke.

In case you didn't know, the veteran celebrity's life was flipped upside down when she had a stroke back in 2001, suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage that lasted nine days and even convinced doctors that she was not going to live.

It took her a long time to recover from the stroke, and by the time she was up and ready to work, she couldn't find the opportunity to do so as Hollywood seemed to be done with her.

"I recovered for seven years and I haven't had jobs since," Stone shared during her opening speech at The Hollywood Reporter’s Raising Our Voices luncheon gala.

"When it first happened, I didn’t want to tell anybody because, you know, if something goes wrong with you, you’re out. Something went wrong with me: I’ve been out, for 20 years," she said.

Stone gained prominence for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, such as in Basic Instinct, The Specialist, and Casino. And she knew how much her worth was: "I was a very big movie star at one point in my life. I broke a lot of glass ceilings with the top of my head."

Since then, she has pivoted her career towards working for the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and various governments all over the world, with advocacy to highlight the importance of diversity.

"Diversity can mean more than one thing. Diversity can be an injury. Diversity can be the color of your skin. Diversity can mean standing up for yourself. If you are diverse, you must demand a position in this business," Stone said.

She continued, "We are here to raise our voices to demand for you. We demand that you be seen. We demand that you be heard. I would have loved to be heard, but since I wasn't, I decided to work so that you could be heard."

During her career, Stone has had over one hundred acting credits in film and on television and has received several wins, including one Golden Globe Award for Casino, one Primetime Emmy Award for The Practice, and two MTV Movie Awards for Basic Instinct.