Emma Stone
Actress Emma Stone poses during a photocall at the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, on May 15, 2015.
With her latest film, “La La Land,” Stone has already earned a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award for her performance, and has received her second Academy Award nomination.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan
"La La Land"
“La La Land,” costarring Ryan Gosling and directed by Damien Chazelle, is a musical about a wanna-be actress and a struggling musician in Los Angeles whose blossoming romance runs into conflict with their artistic aspirations. The film earned 14 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress.
Emma Stone
She may have captured that timeless Hollywood dream, and yet Stone hardly lives with her head in the clouds.
“I think maybe there is that notion that if you have a dream and then it comes true, everything will just be great now and you’ll just be coasting, but that’s not how it goes,” she told CBS News’ Lee Cowan. “If anything, it just makes me more and more want to get closer and closer to those I love, and get closer and closer to the Earth, staying as firmly-planted on Earth as possible, because that’s really it, that’s it, you know? That’s the real stuff.”
Headshot
Born Emily Jean Stone in Scottsdale, Ariz., she had a passion for acting that she put before almost everything else.
Valley Youth Theatre
Between the ages of 11 and 15, Stone appeared in nearly 20 stage productions, becoming a regular fixture of the Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix. “She was willing to take any part, it didn’t matter what the character was, how big the character was,” said Bobb Cooper, the theatre’s artistic director, adding, “She could project very well.”
“Because I was loud beyond belief!” Stone added.
Pictured, clockwise from top left: Emily Stone in Valley Youth Theatre productions of “The Princess and the Pea”; “The Little Mermaid”; as Eeyore in “Winnie the Pooh”; and as a stepsister of “Cinderella.”
Headshot
At 15, with the aid of a Powerpoint presentation, Stone asked her parents to allow her to move to Los Angeles, so that she could pursue an acting career. They said yes, though not instantly.
“They were able to support me in doing that. That’s not the reality for, I would say, probably the majority of people.
“To go and accomplish a dream at 15, it doesn’t feel like you have all that much to lose,” she said. She admitted to Cowan that, as she began auditioning for sitcoms, she did not have a Plan B.
"Drive"
After TV several appearances, in “The New Partridge Family,” “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” “Malcolm in the Middle” and “Medium,” Stone joined the cast of the drama series “Drive,” about illegal road races.
"Drive"
Emma Stone as Violet Trimble in “Drive.”
"Superbad"
Jonah Hill and Emma Stone in the Judd Apatow-produced teen comedy “Superbad” (2007).
"The Rocker"
Emma Stone as a young alt-rocker whose high school band is taken over by one band member’s uncle, a failed rocker (Rainn Wilson) trying to relive his glory days, in “The Rocker” (2008).
"Zombieland"
Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg and Abigail Breslin in the zombie comedy “Zombieland” (2009). In addition to blasting several zombies to bits, Stone got to whack Bill Murray (playing Bill Murray) with a golf club.
"Easy A"
Emma Stone’s first starring role was in “Easy A” (2010), Will Gluck’s comedy about a high school student who lies about losing her virginity, only to embrace the gossipy reputation of school tramp while bearding for a bullied homosexual student.
She told Lee Cowan she appreciated being pushed by Gluck: “We were two sparring brother, sister peas on the film. I mean, he pushed me all the time, and made fun of me, and got me through it.”
“Do you like being pushed?”
“Yeah. I’d rather be pushed than coddled any day of the week,” she laughed. “Because anything that feels, I don’t know, false -- I’d rather someone ask me to go deeper, and try harder, and be better. One of the coolest things about doing this job is growing, and changing with everything, and never making the same decision twice because you’ve learned so much from the last project. I guess that’s like in life. You keep moving through, and you hopefully learn from your mistakes and just get better and better all the time.”
"Crazy, Stupid, Love"
Emma Stone’s first collaboration with Ryan Gosling was in the romantic comedy “Crazy, Stupid, Love” (2011), about a lothario who finds one young woman a particularly hard nut to crack, until she catches him on the rebound.
Met Gala
Emma Stone attends the “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty” Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 2, 2011, in New York City.
Teen Choice Awards
Surf’s up! Emma Stone is seen onstage at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards on Aug. 7, 2011, in Universal City, Calif.
"The Help"
In “The Help” (2011), set in Mississippi in the early 1960s, Emma Stone stars as “Skeeter” Phelan, a young reporter whose exposé about Southern housewives’ treatment of African-American employees becomes a bombshell that divides her town.
"The Help"
Stone shared a Screen Actors Guild Award as a member of the cast of “The Help.” She would later share a SAG cast award for “Birdman.”
National Board of Review Awards
Emma Stone attends the 2011 National Board of Review Awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on January 10, 2012 in New York City.
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Actress Emma Stone and her mother, Krista, arrive at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2012 in Los Angeles, California.
Academy Awards
Actress Emma Stone, star of “The Help,” arrives at the 84th Annual Academy Awards held at the Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2012 in Hollywood, California.
"The Amazing Spider-Man"
Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in “The Amazing Spider-Man” (2012), a reboot of the superhero franchise.
New York City
Actress Emma Stone addresses the crowd at the 15th Annual EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women, May 5, 2012, in New York.
Paris Fashion Week
Emma Stone arrives at the Miu Miu Spring/Summer 2013 show as part of Paris Fashion Week, October 3, 2012 in Paris, France.
"Gangster Squad"
Emma Stone, as the girlfriend of mob boss Mickey Cohen, in “Gangster Squad” (2013), about L.A. cops tasked with bringing down Cohen’s operations.
"Gangster Squad"
“Gangster Squad” was the second teaming of Stone and Ryan Gosling, who played an L.A. cop out to bust the mob - and catch the eye of Stone, which he does.
"Magic in the Moonlight"
Emma Stone played a psychic working her way through the elite of Southern France in Woody Allen’s romantic comedy “Magic in the Moonlight” (2014), costarring Colin Firth.
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2"
Actors Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield attend the world premiere of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” at the Odeon Leicester Square on April 10, 2014 in London, England.
New York City
Emma Stone and Spider-man visit the Empire State Building on April 25, 2014 in New York City.
"Birdman"
In “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)“ (2014), Emma Stone played Sam, the daughter of actor Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), a once-hot Hollywood star who is trying to revive his career with a challenging Broadway production of a Raymond Carver tale.
"Birdman"
Emma Stone with Edward Norton in “Birdman.”
Stone said director Alejendro Iñárritu pushed the cast in a huge way during the technically-demanding shoot. “And it was infuriating in some moments until it wasn’t, and then it was super-liberating. I learned so much from that short experience.
“He was trying to get me to stop trying to please him. I kept looking to him for approval. And then finally, [during the rooftop scene with Norton], my mind flipped and I was like, ‘Oh God. F*** it. You know, I’m just gonna do whatever I want.’ I got up there, and I went, and did the scene. And he just stopped and goes, “That was beautiful.” (laughs) He knew instantly that I was not looking for his approval anymore -- and the character in that moment was no longer looking for approval, either. And you could just feel the shift. And I was like, “Oh! Oh, I don’t need to people-please my way through it.” (laughs) You know, it was a huge life lesson.”
"Birdman"
Emma Stone in the enigmatic final scene of “Birdman.”
The film won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Stone was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Venice Film Festival
Actress Emma Stone attends the premiere of “Birdman” during the 71st Venice Film Festival on August 27, 2014 in Venice, Italy.
Academy Awards
Jennifer Aniston and Emma Stone attend the 87th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 22, 2015 in Hollywood, Calif.
"Irrational Man"
Emma Stone reteamed with Woody Allen for “Irrational Man” (2015), playing a student who becomes romantically involved with a visiting philosophy professor (Joaquin Phoenix), who decides to right a moral imbalance in the universe by plotting another man’s death.
"Aloha"
Emma Stone, as an Air force Captain, is one point of a romantic triangle in the comedy “Aloha” (2016), starring Bradley Cooper and Rachel McAdams.
"La La Land"
Emma Stone is an aspiring actress looking for love, and work, in the musical “La La Land” (2016).
“It kind of has all of those elements of things that I truly love and have loved since I was a kid; I’ve always loved to sing and dance, but the caliber of my talent in those areas obviously is not nearing Patti LuPone or Sutton Foster. And a great joy of “La La Land” was the naturalism -- Damien [Chazelle] wanted it to feel kind of raw and not polished or super-technical. [And] then there’s some humor and some heartbreak. It’s kind of like the dream.
"La La Land"
“La La Land” marked the third teaming of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
“So much has been written and said about the chemistry that you guys have together,” Cowan noted. “But you said it’s less chemistry and more just a friendship, that you like working together in part because you know each other so well.”
“Yeah, I think there’s just, like, a sense of ease with him and working with him,” she replied. “There is a natural rhythm that we fell into right away in our first audition together. And we’ve always improvised. We’ve had the opportunity to improvise in each of the films we’ve done, and that adds something to your connection as actors.”
"La La Land"
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone dance among the stars in the musical “La La Land.”
“I loved the idea of getting to dive in to rehearse something like this,” Stone said. “It’s so rare for a movie that you have months of a rehearsal process. There’s always an opportunity to learn new skills as an actor. But with this, to tap dance, and ballroom dance, and sing each day, work on the character stuff with Damien, and for Ryan playing piano, it was really a special, long process that we got to embark on. And that alone was a huge draw, that rehearsal period.”
After training with professional ballroom dancers, Stone and Gosling then got to dance with each other, which she described as “a little messy! As you would expect, because we were dancing with ballroom dancing pros, and then we got into the firm, learned embrace of each other. It’s a tricky thing to learn to ballroom dance. But it was fun because I’ve known him for such a long time. And it made us laugh more than anything.”
"La La Land"
“I loved the idea that it was set in modern day,” Stone said, “that the touches felt very modern, but the feeling of the film was this anamorphic sort of Cinemascope celebration of the musicals that Damien and Ryan and I, and many, many people, have fallen in love with through the decades. The combination of it was definitely a tricky balance, but [also] what made it so inspiring. I think if it had been set in the ‘50s or something, it wouldn’t have been quite as intriguing. The marriage of those two time periods was what was so fun about it.”
“But it was kind of the love story that got you hooked first, right?” Cowan asked.
“Yeah. And the ending. I mean, I got through the whole script, and I thought it was beautiful. But once you get to the ending, it all led to this beautiful culmination, [like Chaplain’s ‘City Lights’]. And that’s what really got me.”
"La La Land"
Director Damien Chazelle joins “La La Land” stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling for their hand- and footprint ceremony in front of the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood on December 7, 2016.
Golden Globe Awards
“La La Land” star Emma Stone holds her award for Best Actress, Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy during the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif, January 8, 2017.
Screen Actors Guild Awards
Emma Stone accepts the SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for “La La Land,” during the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 29, 2017 in Los Angeles.
"Battle of the Sexes"
Emma Stone as tennis star Billie Jean King and Steve Carell as her challenger Bobby Riggs in the upcoming “Battle of the Sexes.”
Venice Film Festival
Emma Stone poses during the photocall for the movie “La La Land” at the 73rd Venice Film Festival, August 31, 2016 in Venice.
Don’t miss Lee Cowan’s interview with Emma Stone on “Sunday Morning” February 12!
For more info:
“La La Land” (Official site)