American actress Sharon Stone is known primarily for playing femme fatales, but in a recent interview she’s revealed that behind the iconic roles she’s far more fragile than people realise.

Stone has made more than 40 movies, including Martin Scorsese’s 1995 “Casino,” opposite Robert De Niro. She’s also appeared on TV, including recently as a Hollywood executive opposite Sydney Sweeney in Season 3 of “Euphoria.”

One of her most iconic roles came as Catherine Tramell in the 1992 erotic thriller Basic Instinct, with the character’s infamous police interrogation scene becoming one of the film’s most enduring moments.

Speaking to Variety, Stone admitted that she credits the Tramell role for creating an air of fear around her, especially when she was being interviewed by the press.

“They were terrified, and they would sit down opposite me and panic. That hasn’t changed; people are still terrified of me in one way or another,” she said.

“I think that the basic construct of a woman declaring herself as separate and indomitable was, and remains, a terrifying construct.”

Yet when asked how she feels when people say they’re afraid of her, she explained that it is often hard for others to see her vulnerabilities.

“It’s very hard for people to understand that I’m a fragile, physically little, delicate, shy, private, loner, gentle, very empathetic artist. Not at all like that character, nothing to do with that character,” she said.

She also talked about her role in Euphoria, where she played an executive opposite Sydney Sweeny’s controversial sex worker role.

“I tried to get Sydney Sweeney’s character to stop being a cam girl and to come and work for me on the series I was producing called “L.A. Nights.” And she agreed to stop being a cam girl — which she didn’t do. As you can see from Sydney’s new lingerie line, it didn’t take,” she said.