STEPPING OUT OF SHARON'S SHADOW

Media entrepreneur Roan Stone tells us how he's carving out his own path with strong support from the Hollywood star – and how she makes a mean burger

- INTERVIEW: ISABELLE CASEY

Hollywood royalty, philanthropist and 1990s sex symbol: Sharon Stone is one of the best-known actresses of her generation. But of all her accolades, it's in the role of mother to her three children that her star shines brightest, according to her son Roan Stone, 25, whom she adopted in 2000, during her marriage to the journalist Phil Bronstein.

And the media entrepreneur says that the Basic Instinct star, 67, is one of his biggest supporters. “They really believe in me,” Roan says of his mother and his girlfriend, who prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

“When I went into acting, my mother was very supportive and did all the self-tapes with me and taught me things she knows.”

Another thing for which Roan is grateful, however, is having to “carve his own path”, which is something he still “finds hard”.

He is the brains behind the media company Sweat N Shadow Management and is also the chief executive of the production company Cahuenga Media Group.

“I'm still Sharon Stone's son, but as life progresses, I've managed to carve out a career where I'm known for my business, not for my connection to her. But I'm very proud of my family and my family’s legacy and the name I carry,” he says.

“I'm carving out a path, with the help of others, in an industry where I have no name. It helps to know the right people - those golden gates, in a way, are already open, I know, and I'm in the right rooms or at the right events. But it's a learning curve, and I enjoy the uphill battle.”