Sharon Stone plays depressed wife in her latest film

Sharon Stone plays a depressed, taciturn and somewhat dowdy wife in her latest film, which premiered Monday at the Berlin film festival - a role that the star says she found cathartic.

Photo: Sharon Stone plays depressed wife in her latest film

"When A Man Falls In The Forest," from young American director Ryan Eslinger, is one of 22 movies competing for the top Golden Bear award at the festival. Stone, 48, was an executive producer on the film.

Stone's Karen is one of four main characters in the episodic drama - an unhappy wife who turns to shoplifting sprees to bring some excitement into her life.

"It helped me to understand a lot of emotion that I had previously not been able to understand in myself," Stone said at the film's presentation. "It was a very freeing experience for me ... sometimes feeling bad made me feel good. It was cathartic."

The Golden Globe-winning actress is possibly best known for her role in the 1992 film "Basic Instinct" - which, she says, she can live with, the AP says.

"I'm really glad that the fame and the clout that that film brought me has allowed me to make other pictures and to do the humanitarian work that I do," she said.