Sharon Stone will only return to Hollywood if she's offered a "substantial role" after swapping acting for painting

When asked if she's happier as a painter than as an actor, she told the Guardian newspaper: "I'm not saying that. Working as an actress, I absolutely loved it. If someone offers me a substantial role, I'm going to take it. But that's not happening ...

"What happens in the business is that once you become a huge seller, they want to put you in small projects, so that you start financing people who want to start their careers. Terrific, but that's not really where I'm at. I want to work with the masters because I have earned my place there."

However, she's determined to continue being creative even if she can't return to acting. Sharon added: "It's really important to continue to be artistically creative, to let that faucet flow, so that your art stays ever present and modern."

Sharon previously claimed she was frozen out of the movie business after she suffered a stroke in 2001 and needed to take several years off work as she recovered.

She told New York Post column PageSix: "I recovered for seven years, and I haven't had jobs since. When it first happened, I didn't want to tell anybody because you know if something goes wrong with you, you're out.

"Something went wrong with me - I've been out for 20 years. I haven't had jobs. I was a very big movie star at one point in my life."

She previously told Variety in 2019: "I lost my place in the business. I was like the hottest movie star, you know? It was like Miss Princess Diana and I were so famous - and she died and I had a stroke. And we were forgotten.

"You find yourself at the back of the line in your business, as I did. You have to figure yourself out all over again."