KUALA LUMPUR: US actress Sharon Stone said people financially "took advantage" of her while she was recovering from a near-fatal stroke, The Hollywood Reporter reported yesterday.
The Basic Instinct star suffered a stroke in 2001 that forced her to take a step away from Hollywood for seven years until she recovered fully.
"People took advantage of me over that time.
"I had US$18 million (RM85 million) saved because of all my success, but when I got back into my bank account, it was all gone."
The 66-year-old actress said instead of feeling bitter about what she experienced following her stroke, she chose to focus on the positive.
"I decided to stay present and let go. I decided not to hang onto being sick or to any bitterness or anger," she said.
"If you bite into the seed of bitterness, it never leaves you.
"But if you hold faith, even if that faith is the size of a mustard seed, you will survive.
"So, I live for joy now. I live for purpose."
Stone said the stroke 100 per cent changed the way her brain worked.
She said: "A Buddhist monk told me that I had been reincarnated into my same body.
"I had a death experience and then they brought me back.
"My sense of smell, my sight, my touch.
"I couldn't read for a couple of years.
"Things were stretched and I was seeing colour patterns.
"A lot of people thought I was going to die."
The actress said she takes medication daily to address stuttering and severe brain seizures.
She is now a board member of the Barrow Neurological Foundation in the US which treats "devastating brain and spine conditions".