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Sharon Stone
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food, no water, nothing,” she says.
“I saw 4-year-olds with babies on
their backs, and no parents. You take
those kids home in your heart.”
Lately Stone is focusing her char-
ity work on the military, creating a
Facebook page to support returning
veterans. “She’s always got her heart
open,” says Dr. Charles J. Sophy,
medical director for the Los Angeles
County Department of Children and
Family Services and a longtime friend.
“She’s been all over the world and
seen close up what it means to be
homeless, or dying of AIDS, or to need
water. And she’s just relentless. She’ll
call me up and say, ‘I know this kid—
can you try to get him into a [drug-]
treatment center and I’ll pay for it?’
She’s an amazing person.”
“I’ve made humanitarian causes
and my children much more my
priority than the Hollywood scene,
being liked and getting movie parts,”
says Stone, who’s had more than 40
film roles. “Besides, I haven’t always
been good in my roles. And I don’t
think I had a well-directed career.”
Because she was so inordinately
good-looking (and at times reputed
to be a diva), Stone risked being
typecast early in her career. “Sharon
doesn’t suffer fools gladly,” says Mi-
chael Douglas. “That’s intimidating
for some people. And it’s not her fault
that she’s so beautiful.”
Adds James Woods: “Some ladies
in the business are icons, but there’s
lots of spackling that goes on. Sharon
rolls onto a set at 5: 30 a.m., beautiful
with sleep stuff still in her eyes. It’s
wonderful that as gorgeous as she is,
the industry finally recognized that
she’s a really good actress.”
That happened with Casino. Says
Martin Scorsese, her director on the
film: “Working with Sharon was a
great creative experience because
she wanted to get out of her comfort
zone. She knew that was where she
was going to find her character—and
did she ever find her! It was the kind
of experience you look for with an
actor: a journey into unexplored ter-
ritory to illuminate a mystery.”
Whether Stone will revisit such an
acting journey remains to be seen—
but she’s fine with that. “If I’m not go-
ing to be a big movie star again, then
guess what? That wasn’t my destiny.”
These days Stone credits her
Buddhist philosophies with easing
her suffering. “I don’t blame any-
one else for what happened to me,”
she says. “But once you’ve had your
life burn down, it takes time to be a
phoenix. You have to stand in still-
ness long enough that the balls stop
moving, and love and forgive your-
self. At a certain point you can say,
‘I also made a lot of great choices in
my life. And now, if I want to put the
balls back in motion, how would I
do that?’ ” She offers a satisfied sigh.
“What was an endless, desperate
plea has become an endless, peaceful
walk. I am so free, so blessed. I have
the most gorgeous children.”
She no longer beats herself up over
losing custody of her oldest son. “You
have to get over those emotions and
be a good mother,” she says. Roan
comes to Los Angeles for monthly
weekend visits—“My main concern is
that I support him, love him, and am
steady,” she says. For his 11th birthday,
she gave him her father’s old tools
and had a workbench built for him in
the garage. On a recent visit, he built
wooden armor for Quinn’s tricycle.
“I’m loving raising my kids,” says
Stone, showing off pictures on her
phone. “Quinn is in junior kinder-
garten, and he’s very exclamatory!
Like a little FBI agent, he tells you
everything that’s happening, so I
call him Agent Quinn. ‘Mom! Toots
pooped in the yard!’ ‘Thank you,
Agent Quinn.’ And Laird is like a
rocket. He came home with his violin
from school yesterday and played it
all night. He’s a big romancer: When
you talk to him on the phone, he’s
like, ‘I’m in love with you, Mommy.’ ”
Stone thinks she’s too old to raise
another infant but wouldn’t rule out
adopting an older child, or, say, meet-
