Sharon Stone's 11-Year-Old Son Gave Her a Lesson in Coming Out

Sharon Stone's 11-year-old son Quinn gave her a lesson in how far the LGBT movement has come in recent years.

The Mosaic actress told the story to Debra Messing in an episode of Actors on Actors -- a series produced by Variety Studio in which figures in the entertainment industry have conversations with one another -- to demonstrate the impact Will & Grace has had on the culture.

"I have a son who's just about to be 12," Stone told Messing. "And we were on vacation, and he said, 'I want to get a mani-pedi.' I'm like, 'Oh! Fun! OK.' And he said, 'I want to get pink nails and toenails.'"

"And I said, of course, 'Are you coming out? If you're coming out, you should tell me first. You should talk to me first,'" Stone continued. "And he said, 'Mom. I don't know. It doesn't matter. And anyway, that's a war that's already been fought.'"

Messing looked amazed by Stone's account. "Mic drop, boom!" she exclaimed. "That's your son. He's learned that from you."

"And you," Stone replied. "I have to say, I appreciate the kind of work that you're doing. It's valuable."

When it was first broadcast in 1998, Will & Grace -- as a network show centered on two gay men, a bisexual woman, and an ally -- made history in LGBT representation.

The NBC sitcom has been credited with turning the tide in public acceptance by none less than former vice president Joe Biden. While announcing his support for marriage equality on NBC's Meet the Press in 2012, Biden said, "I think Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public [on LGBT issues] than almost anything anybody has ever done so far."

Will & Grace was rebooted in 2017, in part because of the 2016 presidential election. During the campaign season, the show had a special reunion episode endorsing Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and then was confirmed to come back for a full season shortly after her loss. "Because of what was happening in our country and what has happened since the election, it felt necessary and urgent to me," Messing told The Advocate in its September 2017 cover story.

Watch the Actors on Actors interview on pbssocal.org.