Sharon Stone Called the Rumor She Bit William Baldwin on ‘Sliver’ Set ‘Hilarious’

Sharon Stone has appeared in many popular movies, from the thriller Basic Instinct to the crime drama Casino. With a reputation for intensity, Stone rose to fame to dominate the box office throughout the ’90s. Although she acted in many major movies, she appeared in some poorly-rated flicks as well. This includes the 1993 erotic drama Sliver, opposite William Baldwin. Sliver bombed after its release, inspiring a lot of rumors about what happened behind the scenes. Most notoriously, a long-standing rumor holds that Stone and Baldwin hated each other, with Stone allegedly biting Baldwin during one intimate scene. 

What is ‘Sliver’ about?

Sliver tells the story of a fashionable book editor named Carly Norris, played by Stone. She moves into an exclusive New York City apartment building. Carly starts to meet many of the building’s other tenants, including Zeke, played by Baldwin. Zeke is a video game designer who experiences instant chemistry with Carly. The two begin a relationship, only to falter when Carly starts to learn about the mysterious secrets that Zeke is hiding.

According to IMDb, Sliver received negative reviews when it was released. Many critics slammed the underdeveloped characterizations and the unconvincing acting from the leads. Additionally, some sex scenes were considered graphic based on the standards of the day. Sliver originally received an NC-17 rating before director Philip Noyce had to make extensive cuts to the film. 

Sharon Stone and William Baldwin reportedly didn’t get along on set

In spite of all the work put in on Sliver, some things about the film couldn’t be saved. The relationship between Baldwin and Stone, in particular, was said to be very tense. Sliver screenwriter Joe Eszterhas alleged in his book, as reported by BuzzFeed, that Stone hated Baldwin so much that during one of their onscreen kisses, Stone actually bit Baldwin’s tongue — an act that caused Baldwin to have problems speaking for days.

Stone didn’t think much of the screenwriter’s claims, releasing a statement that read, “I think it’s hilarious. I knew (Joe) was funny, but I didn’t think he could write comedy.”

What did Sharon Stone say about William Baldwin?

Stone didn’t have a lot of bad things to say about Baldwin despite the rumors they didn’t get along. In a 2021 New Yorker interview, Stone even revealed that Sliver exposed the fact that Baldwin was quite naive when it came to the movie business. “Billy was so sweet and young and naïve,” Stone said. “He had no idea what these monster men were up to. I was speaking studio-man talk very fluently by the time I got on the set of Sliver, and Billy was still a kid. They threw him in the deep, deep end of the pool.”

Stone discussed how trying the intimate scenes were. She said she and Baldwin were both pressured by studio executives to do things that they weren’t comfortable with. “He was trying to be appropriate,” Stone said in the interview.

“But when I would say to him, ‘Why don’t you come to my trailer and we’ll work on the scenes,’ I don’t think he realized that I really wanted to work on the scenes, because they were pushing alternative realities very hard on both of us.” These days, Sliver stands as an example of one of Stone’s least-popular works, a movie that ultimately didn’t add much value to her on-screen catalog.