Emma Stone has recalled a piece of “total garbage” advice that she once received from a Hollywood studio executive as she was starting her career.
The actor, who won an Oscar for her role in La La Land, is starring in the upcoming film Poor Things, a darkly comic fantasy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite, The Lobster) that is released in UK cinemas on January 12.
Stone, who also produces the film, was awarded for her performance at the Palm Springs International Film Awards last week (January 4), and it was during her acceptance speech that she shared the bogus advice.
“I went to one of those general meetings that they sometimes send you to, and an executive told me that for male actors, it’s a marathon, not a sprint,” she said. “And in his eyes, for women, it was a sprint, not a marathon. And that was 20 years ago.
“And I realise that advice is total garbage because the majority of the women that I look up to in this industry, many of whom are in this room, have proven that as time goes on, life and work only get more interesting and more fulfilling.”
Stone went on to explain that her role in Poor Things, of a character brought back to life by Willem Dafoe’s mad scientist, is an example of the diversity of roles on offer for female actors.
“This role was unlike anything I had ever read or anyone that I had ever read about,” she said. “She’s a woman who is immune to external expectations and impervious to judgment and shame and playing.”
Stone recently opened up about her long-term friendship with Taylor Swift. She said that she had seen the singer’s Eras tour show three times, including the opening night in Stone’s home state of Arizona.
“It was incredible to see,” the actor said, adding that the choreographer for the show is the same who helped choreograph Stone in La La Land.
Stone’s recent Paramount+ show The Curse, in which she co-stars with Nathan Fielder as a married couple who believe they have been afflicted by a curse while hosting a home improvement show, has been described as “one of the most unforgettable shows of 2023” by critics.
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