Stone: I'm glad success came late

Sharon Stone has revealed she is happy fame came later in her career - because early success "would have killed me".

The 54-year-old shot to stardom in the 1992 film Basic Instinct after years as a jobbing actress, and found the subsequent attention difficult to handle.

She told The Sun: "When suddenly I was being offered all the things I ever wanted, I would have little mini-breakdowns all the time. I screamed and cried and said that I was losing my mind."

Sharon, who is mum to three adopted sons, added: "Before Basic Instinct, I had done 15 movies, a mini series for TV, the movie of the week for virtually every network and had modelled. I was 34 and grown up.

"I already knew enough to know that had I been a big star at 18, it would have killed me. I would never have survived."

Sharon will next be seen on screen in biopic Lovelace, in which she plays porn star Linda Lovelace's mother.

The film also stars Amanda Seyfried in the title role, alongside James Franco, Chloe Sevigny and Sarah Jessica Parker.