The Basic Instinct star was deemed one of the most desirable women in Hollywood in the ’90s. Ironically, that movie was released only 6 years before Sharon Stone turned 40, when, as she recently revealed, she was already written off by some film execs. Let’s learn more about how Stone conquered the ageism surrounding her and empowered women everywhere.

Stone’s journey to stardom started with modeling and small TV roles. Curiously, it all began in 1976 when the 18-year-old Stone entered the Miss Pennsylvania competition. One of the judges noticed her and recommended she move to New York to get signed by a modeling agency. What followed were years of working in Milan and Paris, which eventually inspired her to move back to New York and pursue acting.

Stone spent the ’80s doing small roles in movies and TV shows, but her big break was still a while away. It wasn’t until the ’90s came around that Stone really got noticed. At first, it was the main role in Total Recall (1990) alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. 2 years later, Stone shined in Basic Instinct (1992), a movie that is still synonymous with her name.

After Basic Instinct, Stone was on top of the world. She made the list of “50 Most Beautiful People in the World” by PEOPLE magazine in 1992. Then, Empire highlighted her charm by ranking her in their “100 Sexiest Stars in Film History” issue in both 1995 and 1997 when she was 39 years old. Considering these accolades, Stone couldn’t have predicted what criticism was coming her way.

In 1998, Stone turned 40, which got her way too close to Hollywood’s “sell-by date,” as she recently recalled. Stone, now 65, revealed that when she reached her forties, she started hearing from her colleagues that she was “too old” for many roles, which was absolutely shocking. The actress now looks back at the photos of her in her forties and can’t believe someone could’ve judged her age back then.

Stone said, “[At 40,] you’re old enough to know what you want and young enough to go get it. And you look amazing! I looked amazing! I looked like some Scandinavian princess! I look at pictures of myself and think, ’That was old?’ Oh my god.”