10 Movie Actors Who Can't Escape Their Most Iconic Role

9. Sharon Stone - Catherine Trammel (Basic Instinct)

It was Stone's starring role in Paul Verhoeven's erotic thriller Basic Instinct, in which she portrayed a bisexual nymphet, writer and alleged serial killer, that made her a global phenomenon, with the film grossing over $352 million worldwide and establishing her as a pin-up in the early 1990s. Unbeknownst to Stone, however, the part that brought her to prominence would also have a killer impact on her career. She soon found herself entangled in a web of exploitation with movie producers casting her in similar but limited roles, like in raunchy thriller Slivers and The Specialist, on the back of her reputation as a blonde and feisty seductress. Luckily she managed to salvage her dwindling reputation in 1995 with the role of Ginger in Martin Scorsese's Casino, which earned her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination. That said, she returned to play Catherine Trammel once more in the curiously titled 2006 flop Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction, reminding everyone of that outrageous police interrogation scene.