Emma Stone is being celebrated as one of the best modern actors who started their career around the 2010s. While she is widely known for her roles in movies like The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Birdman (2014), and La La Land (2016), there are numerous other great movies as well.
But how did it all start for her? Let’s find out!
Humble Beginnings To Project Hollywood
Emma Stone was born on November 6, 1988, in Arizona. Her father was the CEO of a general contracting company, while her mother was a homemaker. As a child, she suffered from a lot of anxiety and panic attacks, for which she had problems socializing.
However, she soon became interested in theater plays, desiring to become an actress. To show her newfound interest to her parents, she created a PowerPoint presentation titled “Project Hollywood” to move to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career.
They soon made the best decision in their lives to agree to this.
Being Superbad
Emma Stone got her first chance when she starred in the unreleased pilot episode of The New Partridge Family. Unfortunately, this was never released. She continued to star in one-off episodes as side characters in other shows.
But she soon got her big break with the romantic comedy movie Superbad (2007) opposite renowned comedians Jonah Hill and Micheal Cera. While it was a raunchy laugh-out-riot, the movie actually managed to do well at the box office, which was a sign of success for Emma. Plus, its exploration of sex guides also proved relatable to its teenage audience!
Entering Zombieland
After Superbad, Emma starred in two unsuccessful movies in 2008 – The Rocker and The House Bunny. However, this didn’t stop Emma Stone from pushing forward.
It was in 2009 when Emma finally became recognized more in Hollywood. This was because of the hilarious (and actually good) zombie apocalypse movie aptly named Zombieland (2009). Starring alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson, this movie was a hit and a huge turning point in Emma’s (and Jesse’s) career.
Getting Easy A’s
After Zombieland, she starred in Easy A (2009) – another teenage coming-of-age rom-com, where she shined as Olive alongside Ryan Gosling. Her acting skills received great praise here, for which she got her first nomination – a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.
Fighting For Racial Equality
The early career of Emma Stone might have started with romantic comedy movies focused on coming-of-age stories of teenagers. We saw this most notably in movies like Superbad and Easy A. However, the perception of people towards her changed a lot when she starred in the movie The Help (2011).
Acting alongside industry veterans like Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, Emm portrays the role of journalist Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan. Situated in 1960s America, she goes on a quest to expose the workplace racism suffered by African Americans against the backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement of 1963.
The movie ultimately got nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, and Octavia Spencer won one for Best Supporting Actress.
The Quintessential Gwen Stacy
The original Spiderman trilogy (with our favorite Tobey McGuire) showed Mary Jane Watson as his primary love interest. But did you know that according to the original Marvel comics, Gwen Stacy was the first significant other of Peter Parker?
Therefore, Emma Stone was cast as Gwen when the new Amazing Spider-Man started with Andrew Garfield as Spiderman. Everyone who watched the movies will tell you the same thing – she was the perfect fit for the role.
While the movies might have received a more lukewarm reception from viewers and critics alike, Emma’s portrayal of Gwen was heavily praised. Too bad the sequel portrayed a tragic ending for Gwen.
However, Emma Stone beat Suri Cruise after releasing the first movie to become one of the best-dressed women in the world by InStyle magazine!
Flying High With The Birdman
Alejandro Inarritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance was hailed as one of the best movies ever. Its cinematography – which showed the entire movie in a single shot – was heavily praised for being groundbreaking.
It received many nominations, winning four: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. Emma Stone also received a nomination for Best Supporting Actress but unfortunately didn’t win it.
Entering La La Land
Damien Chazelle’s La La Land has been considered one of the best Emma Stone movies, a role for which she bagged her first Oscar win as Best Actress. This film was nominated for 14 Oscars, winning six of them, including Best Director (Chazelle) and Best Actress (Emma).
The film portrays the romance between actress Mia Dolan (Emma) and jazz musician Sebastian “Seb” Wilder (Ryan Gosling). This is the second time we see Ryan and Emm paired together (after Easy A).
The film was an immense hit, making Emma Stone a household name and one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses.
The Cruella We Needed
The film acts as its prequel, shedding light on the backstory of its antagonist Cruella de VII and how she turned to the dark side. Stone’s performance as the titular anti-hero, Cruella, received unanimous praise, which helped the movie win an Oscar for Best Costume Design.
101 Dalmatians (and its sequel, 102 Dalmatians) are revered children/family films of the 1990s. The film was praised for its terrifying villain – Cruella De Vil (perfectly portrayed by Glenn Close).
Serving as a prequel, Cruella (2022) aims to show the rise of this terrific antagonist. Emma’s acting was praised, with many critics praising how she embodied the character in the best way possible. Plus, it helped the movie win an Oscar for Best Costume Design!
Conclusion
The career of Emma Stone started a decade ago, with a few more soon to come. With many great movies she has been praised for, we expect much more from her in the coming years.
Author Bio:
A professional content writer with 3 years of blogging experience, Eloise Emily. She started her work as a blogger after earning her degree from California’s Loyola Marymount University.
She contributes to several well-known blogs, including pluslifestyles.com, beautyandstyleguide.com, healthjournal365, voiceofaction.org and technetdeals.com She takes pleasure in contributing to numerous foreign publications and magazine pieces. In addition, she enjoys watching movies and listening to music when she has free time.