Actress Sharon Stone was eager to be cast for a project on the late Lana Turner. But when Michael Douglas’ wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, nabbed the project instead, Stone couldn’t help but express her disappointment with the outcome.
Sharon Stone has been considered to play late actress Lana Turner in a biopic
Stone may have been in contention once to play late actor Lana Turner. According to TCM, Turner was a booming actress in the late 1930s, having made her small screen debut in the feature film They won’t forget.
From there, Turner’s career hit even higher heights in the 1940s. The 1940s saw her starring in notable feature films like Honky Tonk And Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydefurther increasing his fame.
Deep into the 1940s and 1950s, Turner was already an established star and star in his own right. But her personal life would take a disastrous turn when she began dating a Los Angeles mobster named Johnny Stompanato. Stompanato was a secret admirer of Turner, secretly sending him lavish gifts and adoring messages over the phone under the alias John Steele.
When Turner found out who Stompanato really was, she tried to leave him. But Stompanato wouldn’t let her, using violence and intimidation to keep Turner in check.
After months of this tumultuous relationship, the couple has reached breaking point. Stompanato threatened to kill Turner, Turner’s grandmother, and Turner’s daughter, Cheryl Crane. Upon hearing this, Turner’s daughter, who was only 14 at the time, would end up stabbing Stompanato with a knife and killing him. Due to the circumstances, neither Turner nor Crane were charged with murder.
Sharon Stone lost her role as Lana Turner to Michael Douglas’ wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones
Stone claimed she was cast to play Lana Turner by Turner herself.
“I met Lana in her later years and really liked her. She said if there was going to be a movie about her life, I was her choice,” Stone said according to FemaleFirst.
In the mid-2000s, a Turner film was looking to become a reality. Entertainment Weekly reported in 2001 that Wayne’s World director Wayne Wang was set to helm the potential feature film. Wayne had already planned to cast Stone as Turner at this point. Wang was also considering Antonio Banderas as Johnny Stompanato.
“I said to him, ‘You have to get rid of your Spanish accent. Johnny was a Midwestern gangster,” Wang said.
But circumstances changed when filmmaker Adrian Lyne was hired to direct the hypothetical film instead. Lyne decided to cast Michael Douglas’ wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones, in the feature film. It’s been reported that Stone wasn’t too happy about being snatched away from one of her dream projects.
“You may know your work, but it seems like you have to be trendy,” Stone reportedly said of the casting news.
How Catherine Zeta-Jones felt about Sharon Stone being mad at her for being cast in the role
In a 2005 interview with IGN, Zeta-Jones confirmed that she had been cast in a potential Lana Turner biopic. Instead of Antonio Banderas, Matrix star Keanu Reeves would end up being his love interest.
” I will do it. Keanu Reeves is still on it. I put myself on film just so I could get in my head that the studio wouldn’t turn around halfway through the film and say, ‘She doesn’t look like her,'” Zeta-Jones said.
When it comes to Stone, however, Zeta-Jones claimed she knows very little about the actor’s true feelings on the matter. But Zeta-Jones shared that she also wanted to be in a movie that ended up going to Stone a while back. So Zeta-Jones knew the feeling of being ripped off.
“Supposedly, Sharon wanted to play Lana Turner [in the Johnny Stompanato movie]. And I know Sharon very well. And I don’t know. But guess what? I wanted to be in Basic instinct 2“, said Zeta-Jones.