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Sharon Stone says her performance with Sam Smith was as much a trust exercise as it was artistry.
The “Basic Instinct” actress was center stage for the singer’s performance of “Gloria” on the newest episode of “Saturday Night Live”. She posed on a chaise chair in a regal gown, but as the song closed out, she sat up with a vulnerable expression on her face, for an unconventional musical act.
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It was an act which relied almost entirely on an innate sense of artistry and trust between Stone and Smith she said.
“Sam did not ask for anything from me — just asked me if I would do it and trusted me,” she recalled to Variety. “We just innately understand each other, at an almost intimate level. I see him and he knows that I see him and that I adore him and approve of him and trust him, and therefore he sees me and approves of me and trusts me.”
They both viewed working in entertainment as creating art collaboratively, rather than competing with each other.
“We have no judgment of each other; we have only affirmative feelings about each other as an artist. It’s not a competitive sport, but we want each other to bring our best game, and in order to do that, it’s like, ‘Just go for it, girl,’” she continued.
Sharing how the surprise collaboration happened, Stone revealed that it was the most unlikely of beginnings – with the “Gloria” singer slipping into her DMs.
“Sam DM’ed me, maybe a month ago, and said, ‘I know it’s really a long shot, but would you like to do this?’” she explained. “And I said, ‘Well, it’s funny, I am listening to Sam Smith radio [on a streaming service] at the moment, so I think the universe has already decided this. I’d be so thrilled to do it, Sam. I just think you’re the most astounding performer and I’d be absolutely ecstatic to do it.’”
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The actress was no stranger to the sketch show, having hosted it in 1992, but accompanying Smith as a musical performer was asking for something else entirely.
“I knew what it was going to be like. But that stage is made for musicians so it’s very acoustically sound, and when I was in the semi-circle of the singers, it was like a sound bath,” she added. “Sam Kruger, Sam’s manager, stood in for me for the soundcheck earlier in the day, and he said, ‘I came off the stage and I thought I was going to cry.’ It’s unreal, how moving it is to be inside that sound.”