The Avati Brothers (consisting of director Pupi Avati and his producer brother Antonio Avati) claimed the 56-year-old “Basic Instinct” star had some diva-like demands while shooting in Italy!
Per the Hollywood Reporter, it was the film’s director’s idea for Stone to play “an actress from the ‘90s who becomes a book editor.” He “knew there are American actresses more capable than her,” said Pupi, “but I wanted a film icon.”
According to Pupi, his brother Antonio “asked me if I was crazy,” when he suggested the casting idea. “Then a correspondence started, enough to write a book, between her agents and our lawyers. It was a negotiation that bordered on ridiculous, concerning embarrassing details, as if Italy was a third world country. By the way, we do have electricity in Italy.”
Antonio claimed to THR that when Stone arrived in Italy, she was “on the wrong railway track sitting on her luggage and no one recognised her.” But, according to the producer, “step-by-step, she started to feel more and more like Sharon Stone.”
Stone’s Golden Boy co-star, Cristiana Capotondi said it was “an unforgettable experience” watching “the Hollywood diva-ism clashing up against the craftsmanship of the Avati brothers.”
“The funniest thing was when she was going shopping for her character with the production’s credit card,” Capotondi added. “She had a production runner following her, at a distance, to tell Antonio which shops she was going into. When the runner called to say that she was going into Bulgari, Antonio almost fainted.”
Pupi claims Stone’s diva-like behaviour only worsened as the media attention increased and he was forced to halt the shoot one day after his leading lady disappeared before a kissing scene.
Despite the alleged difficulties onset, Pupi claims he wouldn’t rule out working with Stone again - although the actress is unlikely to take the Avatis’ comments lightly.