For decades Michelle Pfeiffer has captivated audiences with her beauty, versatility, and acting. Starting her acting career in the late 1970s, she soon became one of the leading ladies of Hollywood. In her decades-long career, Pfeiffer has featured in dramas, comedies, and thrillers and received numerous accolades for her work, including three Oscar nominations. The 65-year-old actress continues to maintain her charm, as she features in the MCU as Janet Van Dyne.

Michelle Pfeiffer
However, like many Hollywood stars, she has turned down many offers that would have changed her career for better or worse. And one of these offers also includes the lead role in the 1992 mystery thriller Basic Instinct. 

Michelle Pfeiffer Rejected the Offer to Star in Basic Instinct

The 1992 film, Basic Instinct, follows a detective in an investigation of the murder of a wealthy rock star, Johnny Boz, as he falls for the prime suspect in the case, Catherine Tramell. Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone were cast in the lead roles, and the film went on to gross over $350 million at the box office.

A still from Basic Instinct (1992)
During an interview, Michelle Pfeiffer revealed that she was offered the role of Catherine Tramell initially. However, due to the explicit scenes in the film, she rejected the offer, as she described herself as “prudish.” She said,
“I just couldn’t do that one, because of the s*xual parts, the nudity. My father was still alive. I’m kind of prudish.”

Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns

The Batman Returns actress further shared that she was not comfortable with the nude scenes, as she was “not that uninhibited about [her] body.” Pfeiffer said that she is “modest,” and that’s why she rejected the offer. The part later went to the Casino actress Sharon Stone, and it is believed that Basic Instinct was the film that propelled Stone into the spotlight as Hollywood’s femme fatale.

Michelle Pfeiffer on Why She Turned Down Multiple Films

During an interview, Michelle Pfeiffer confirmed that she turned down offers for multiple films, including Pretty Woman, Thelma & Louise, and Basic Instinct. She shared that there were numerous reasons behind rejecting these offers, and it was not necessarily because she did not want to do it.

Michelle Pfeiffer with her family
“There’s a conflict. You’re committed to something else. Typically, it was something like that,” the Ant-Man and the Wasp actress shared. Pfeiffer also said that one of the reasons she turned down these offers was also her children, John and Claudia, as she was unable to leave them.

She said, “I just got pickier and pickier. It was hard to leave them, especially when they got to be school age.” The Scarface actress shared that although she denied multiple offers, she has been working a lot now.

Source: Contactmusic