Sharon Stone has cleared up a rumour about her, Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe after playing a key role in launching their star-studded careers.

The Basic Instinct actress, 65, starred alongside both Leonardo and Russell in The Quick and the Dead and has been credited with getting her co-stars their parts in the 1995 western — which ultimately helped to launch their successful Hollywood careers. In her 2021 memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, Sharon, who was also a producer on the film, revealed she loved Leo's audition for The Kid so much that when the studio initially refused to cast him she agreed to fund his salary herself.

"The studio said if I wanted him so much, I could pay him out of my own salary. So I did," Sharon wrote. Last week the Titanic star called Sharon "amazing" as he claimed he's continuously thanked her for her generosity over the years.

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Leo told E! News: "I've thanked her many times, I don't know if I sent her an actual, physical thank you gift, but I cannot thank her enough." But he also revealed his role wasn't the only one she played a major part in, she also insisted on having Russell Crowe, who was a relatively unknown actor at the time, cast in the film.

Leo recalled that after Sharon saw his work in the 1993 movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape and Russell's role in 1992's Romper Stomper, she was adamant they were both right for the western. He added: "She said, ‘These are the two actors I want to work with,'

"It's incredible. She's been a huge champion of cinema and giving other actors opportunities, so I'm very thankful." Leo's praise of Sharon was followed by reports she'd also paid Russell's salary for the movie but she recently took to Instagram to set the record straight.

Posting a string of pictures of herself playing the female gunslinger Ellen as well as other shots from the film, Sharon wrote: "To be clear about the Hollywood Reporter article: Yes, I paid @leonardodicaprio ’s salary out of mine." However, she revealed she didn't fork out for Russell's salary, but did help him get cast in the film.

She explained: "No I didn’t pay @russellcrowe ’s, but I did ask for the film to be delayed two weeks so we could get him here from Australia, and our producer @mikemedavoyup agreed to the delay. And to cover those expenses."

Fans were quick to commend her support for the actors. One person wrote: "LOVE that Leo Dicaprio and Russell Crowe gave you the credit you deserved in fighting for them early in their careers - and that you had the vision and determination to push for them!"

Another commented: "A queen doing queen work." A third said: "You are a force of nature." Others expressed their love for the movie, which follows Sharon's character as she rides into a frontier town and joins a deadly duelling competition.

One fan said: "Damn, you were such a sexy-badass-woman in that movie!" A second commented: "Just loved this movie! Those leather pants!!"

A third agreed, adding: "Loved this movie! So many great performances. Wouldn’t have been the same without that cast." Russell has previously admitted that if it wasn't for Sharon's intervention, it likely would have taken him a lot longer to get his breakout role in Hollywood.

"If it wasn’t her for her strength of commitment, I don’t know how long it might have been before I got an American movie," he said during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers in 2020. The Aussie actor said Sharon had been "in a sword fight with the male producers on the film" but eventually "put her foot down" on who she wanted to hire.

He added: "I’ve got a lot to thank her for." Two years later Russell went on to star in LA Confidential, which was made on a $35million budget and grossed $126million at the box office.

By 2000 he'd cemented his place in Hollywood with his iconic role in Gladiator. Meanwhile, Leonardo was cast in Baz Lurhrmann's Romeo + Juliet in 1996 followed by Titanic in 1997.

Both men have since gone on to become two of the biggest actors in Hollywood. The film also marked Sharon's first time as a producer but she has since gone on to secure producing credits on more than a dozen other projects, including the 2017 film All I Wish and the documentary Femme.