Sharon Stone Explains Why Robert De Niro Made Her Furious on the Set of ‘Casino’

Sharon Stone recently opened up about what it was like working with Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci while filming the 1995 movie Casino. In a new interview with Business Insider, she looked back on the experience and shared a surprising story about a moment on set that made her upset.

Stone said she had a long history with Joe Pesci before Casino. “Joey really, really fought for me to be seen and get the job. So I have a serious loyalty to Joey because he’s always backed me,” she explained.

She also mentioned that James Caan had been a big supporter of hers since she was 19. “It was always Joey and Jimmy Caan. They backed me since I was 19.”

When it came to De Niro, Stone admitted she had wanted to work with him for years. She said she had auditioned with him many times before but never landed a role alongside him. “It was my dream to work with De Niro and hold my own,” she said. That dream finally came true when she was cast as Ginger McKenna, the glamorous and troubled woman at the center of the story in Martin Scorsese’s crime drama.

While filming one intense scene, Stone got a moment she had been waiting for, but it didn’t go exactly as she imagined. “There’s a scene in the movie where we’re sitting across a table arguing, and he says to me, ‘You’re a good actress, you know that?'” she recalled. “And I remember in that scene when he said it, how furious it made me because it was my dream to do it, and then he challenged me at the table.”

She said the comment lit a fire in her. “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, buddy. Not today, pal,'” Stone said, adding that De Niro knew exactly how to push her buttons. “He knew every button to go for with me because he is the greatest observational actor. He can crawl under your skin and get in there.”

Her performance in Casino was widely praised, earning her a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in 1996. The movie itself, based on true events, was a major hit and is still considered one of Scorsese’s best works.

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