Still got it ... Sharon Stone has opened up about ageing in Hollywood, saying she doesn’t care after nearly dying from a massive stroke more than a decade ago. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

The 56-year-old star of Basic Instinct penned an op-ed for Hollywood Reporter about ageing in show business, saying she’s thrilled to be getting older.

Embracing life ... getting older is better than the alternative, Sharon Stone has written in a candid op-ed. Picture: Getty Images Source: Getty Images

“I actually find ageing a benefit,” Stone wrote. “I don’t choose to make growing older a negative. I choose to get older. Growing older is my goal.

“I love it when people say, ‘In Hollywood, you’re not allowed to get older.’ Really, who gives a sh*t what Hollywood thinks about anything?”

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It was 2001 when Stone suffered a massive brain haemorrhage, in a medical crisis that nearly ended her life. Thankfully she survived, but the road to recovery was long and difficult.

Film icon ... Sharon Stone has a long list of film credits, including the blockbuster hit Basic Instinct.' Source: Supplied

“I bled in my brain for nine days. I was in an ICU for nine days and the survival rate for what I went through is very low.

“I spent two years learning to walk and talk again. I came home from that stroke stuttering, couldn’t read for two years.

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“I don’t need someone to make me feel bad about growing older. I’ll tell you what makes you feel bad: when you think you might not. So I feel really good about talking and having my full vocabulary.”

Clean living ... Sharon Stone says her health now is down to working out, eating well and not drinking. Picture: FilmMagic Source: Getty Images

With a long list of film credits under her belt by that point, Stone said the stroke set her career back significantly. When she felt ready to work again, she found herself “at the back of the line”.

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She recalls a guest star role in television series Law and Order: SVU, which she regarded a step back. She struggled to get her lines out.

Long way ... her road to recovery wasn’t easy — it took two years for Sharon Stone to learn to walk and talk again, she says. Picture: AP Photo Source: News Corp Australia

“How am I OK now? I work for it. I work at everything. To me, discipline is a kind of freedom.

“I belong to 24 Hour Fitness and go four or five times a week. It forces me out. Celebrity can be so introverting. I’m inspired by watching what other people are doing there. I eat clean, I always have. I’m off gluten.

“Perhaps another reason for the way I look is that I don’t drink. Any alcohol. I drank so little to begin with.”