Emily Jean "Emma" Stone (born November 6, 1988)[1] is an American actress. In 2007, she starred in the short-lived Fox action drama Drive as Violet Trimble, and made her feature film debut in the comedy Superbad (2007). She has appeared in The House Bunny (2008), Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), Zombieland (2009), and Paper Man (2009). In 2010, Stone voiced Mazie in Marmaduke, and starred as the lead in the comedy Easy A for which she received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. In 2011, she co-starred in Crazy, Stupid, Love. and The Help. In 2012, Stone starred as Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot of the Spider-Man film series. In 2013, she co-starred in Gangster Squad, and voiced the character of Eep in the animated film The Croods. Stone is set to reprise her role of Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.[2]
Early life
Stone was born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the daughter of Jeff Stone, a founder and CEO of a general-contracting company, and Krista (née Yeager), a homemaker.[3] Her parents are co-owners of the Camelback Golf Club, and Stone lived on the grounds of the Camelback Inn resort from the age of twelve.[4][5] She has a brother, Spencer, who is two years younger.[6] Stone's paternal grandfather was of Swedish descent, and his family's surname was anglicized to "Stone" when immigrating to the U.S. through Ellis Island. Her other ancestry includes Pennsylvania Dutch (German), English, Scottish, and Irish.[7][8]
Stone attended Sequoya Elementary School and then Cocopah Middle School for the sixth grade. She was home schooled for two years, during which time she appeared in sixteen productions at Valley Youth Theatre, including The Princess and the Pea, Alice in Wonderland, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,[9][10] and performed with the theater's improv comedy troupe.[11][9] Her parents also sent her for private lessons with "a local acting coach who had worked at William Morris in the 1970s and still had Hollywood connections.[3]
Stone attended Xavier College Preparatory,[9] an all-girl Catholic high school, as a freshman for one semester. Despite this, she was raised as a Lutheran.[3] She gave a PowerPoint presentation to her parents, set to the Madonna song "Hollywood", to convince them to let her move to California for an acting career.[12] She dropped out of high school, and in January 2004, moved with her mother to a Los Angeles apartment, at the age of fifteen.[13] She was then home schooled, so that she could audition during the day.[14]
Career
2004–2011
Stone at the Zombieland world premiere, 2009
Stone chose the name "Emma" when she registered for the Screen Actors Guild because there was already a listing for an "Emily Stone". Her family and friends call her Emily.[15] She first chose Riley Stone as her professional name, but after a guest appearance on Malcolm in the Middle, she decided she was more comfortable with Emma, a nickname her mother had given her.[16] Stone's low-pitched husky voice is a result of having baby colic, a condition of frequent screaming as an infant, resulting in the development of nodules. She has calluses on her vocal cords as an adult.[17]
Stone launched a career in television after winning the role of Laurie Partridge on In Search of the New Partridge Family (2004), a VH1 talent competition reality show.[18] The resulting show, The New Partridge Family (2005), only produced a pilot episode. Stone next had appearances in the television series Medium, Malcolm in the Middle and Lucky Louie. In April 2007, she starred in the Fox action drama Drive, playing Violet Trimble, however, the show was cancelled after seven episodes. She also auditioned for Heroes, and overheard in the casting room "On a scale of 1 to 10, you are an 11" — the casting directors were referring to Hayden Panettiere, who was cast as Claire Bennet instead. Stone called this experience "rock bottom."[19]
Stone made her feature film debut opposite Jonah Hill in the 2007 teen comedy Superbad,
as Jules, the love interest of Hill's lead character Seth. Stone is
naturally blonde. She landed her first role as a teenager after dyeing
her hair dark brown.[20] Film producer Judd Apatow had her change from a brunette to a redhead for her role in Superbad.[11] She returned to blonde for her role in The Amazing Spider-Man.[15] In 2008, she appeared in the comedy The Rocker, opposite Rainn Wilson. Stone played Amelia, the bass guitarist in a band featuring singer Teddy Geiger. Stone learned to play bass for the role. Also that year, Stone appeared in The House Bunny, opposite Anna Faris, Katharine McPhee, Kat Dennings, Rumer Willis, and Colin Hanks.[21] Stone played the president of a sorority and sang on a single from the film, "I Know What Boys Like", a cover version of the 1982 song by The Waitresses.[22]
In 2009, Stone appeared in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, a romantic comedy directed by Mark Waters, the director of Mean Girls, starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner.[23] Stone played Allison Vandermeesh, "The Ghost of Girlfriends Past", a takeoff of the Ghost of Christmas Past from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. She starred in the horror/comedy Zombieland, opposite Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg and directed by Reuben Fleischer. The project began shooting in Atlanta in February 2009.[24] Stone played Wichita, a survivor/con artist from Wichita, Kansas, traveling across the U.S. with her younger sister Little Rock (played by Abigail Breslin). At the end of the film, she reveals that her real name is "Krista", which is the name of Stone's mother in real life.[25]
Stone also co-starred in Paper Man in 2009, opposite Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds and Lisa Kudrow, directed by Kieran and Michele Mulroney.[26] She played Abby, a babysitter that Daniels' character hires after moving to Long Island.[27] Stone began filming the independent comedy on November 11, 2008, in Montauk, New York, using well-known local locations.[28]
In 2010, Stone had a voice role in Marmaduke, a film adaptation of the long-running comic strip about a Great Dane.[29] She voiced Marmaduke's friend, Mazie, a tomboyish Australian Shepherd.[30] Stone was cast in her first leading role that year opposite Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Dan Byrd, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Cam Gigandet, Lisa Kudrow, Aly Michalka and Stanley Tucci in Easy A, a comedy directed by Will Gluck.[31]
Stone plays Olive Penderghast, a high school student who scandalizes
her teachers and more conservative religious classmates after a false
rumor circulates that she is sexually promiscuous.[32] The script contrasts the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and its heroine, Hester Prynne,
to the life of Prynne in the film versions. Stone read the script
before the project was optioned for production, and kept an eye on it
along with her manager until preparations were made.[33]
She was attracted to the script because it was "funny and sweet" and
her character was "fantastic from the first read" who was "fleshed [..]
out so much in the script".[33] When she found out that the film had gone into production, she met with Gluck to express her enthusiasm about the project.[33] A few months later, the audition process started and Stone met with Gluck again to be one of the first actresses to audition.[33] Stone was nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for her role.[34]
Stone appeared at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010, and introduced Linkin Park. She stated in 2008 that she would eventually like to venture into film production, producing her own films, and that her dream was to appear on Saturday Night Live.[21] Stone hosted the late-night sketch comedy show on October 23, 2010, and again on November 12, 2011.[35][36]
Stone appeared in the sex comedy, Friends with Benefits, opposite Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis,
and directed by Will Gluck, whom she worked with for the second time.
It began filming in July 2010, in New York City, and was released on
July 22, 2011.[37] She also co-starred in the Warner Bros. romantic dramedy Crazy, Stupid, Love. that year, opposite Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.
The film was about Carell's character which is a husband with marital
problems and difficulties with his children, it began shooting on April
16, 2010 in Los Angeles and was released on July 29, 2011.[38] Stone starred in the Touchstone Pictures and Dreamworks Studios drama film The Help opposite Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney and Octavia Spencer and directed by Tate Taylor, an adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's best-selling novel of the same name and a period piece set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s, which was released in August 2011. She plays Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, an aspiring writer, and employed a Southern dialect for the role.[27]
2012–present
Stone at the premiere of Easy A in Germany, 2010
Stone starred as the female lead opposite Andrew Garfield in The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot by Columbia Pictures and Marvel Entertainment, of the Spider-Man film series.[39] The film also starred Rhys Ifans, Denis Leary, Campbell Scott, Irrfan Khan, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Embeth Davidtz and Chris Zylka. She played Gwen Stacy, the seventeen-year-old love interest of Garfield's character Peter Parker.[40] Marc Webb directed the film, which was released on July 3, 2012.[39] The film went into production in December 2010, lasting through April 2011.[41] Stone was considered for the lead in a reboot of 21 Jump Street, opposite her Superbad co-star Jonah Hill.[42] She did not take the role however, after signing on to The Amazing Spider-Man.[43]
In DreamWorks Animation's 3D computer animated caveman comedy film The Croods, she voiced Eep, the oldest daughter of Grug (voiced by Nicolas Cage) and Ugga (voiced by Catherine Keener). Ryan Reynolds voiced Gy, the love interest to Stone's character.[44] The film was released on March 22, 2013. She starred in the comedic short film Veronica, opposite Kieran Culkin.[45] The short film, directed by Griffin Dunne, is a comedy segment that is part of the anthology film, Movie 43, featuring Kate Winslet, Gerard Butler, Hugh Jackman, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, and others.[46] The feature film was produced by the Farrelly brothers.[20]
Stone co-starred in the crime drama film Gangster Squad based on a true story and directed by Ruben Fleischer who worked with Stone in Zombieland. She worked with Ryan Gosling for the second time and it also starred Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Mireille Enos, John Aylward, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, and Michael Peña. Stone played Grace Farraday, who is caught in a love triangle with Gosling's character, Sgt. Jerry Wooters and Penn's character, mobster Mickey Cohen.[47] The film was released on January 11, 2013 in North America.[48]
Stone will work with writer and director Will Gluck for the third time,
starring in and executive producing an untitled comedy for Screen Gems.[49] The film studio has given Gluck and Stone full discretion in developing a new project, after the success of Easy A.[15]
As of January 2012, she has signed on to a script, Little White Corvette, a comedy about a pair of would-be drug dealing siblings.[50][51] The project began filming in Miami in mid-2012.[52] In mid-2012, Stone voiced a supporting role in the crime-based video game, Sleeping Dogs.[53] She signed on to star in Deep Tiki opposite Rachel McAdams, Bradley Cooper and Alec Baldwin and directed by Academy Award winner Cameron Crowe, for Sony Pictures.[54] Stone will also reprise her role as Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is scheduled for release on May 2, 2014.[55] Stone will co-star in Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu's ensemble comedy Birdman, opposite Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Naomi Watts and Edward Norton. The film began principal photography in New York City in mid-April 2013.[56] In 2013, Stone dropped out on Guillermo Del Toro's horror film Crimson Peak and was replaced by Mia Wasikowska.[57]
In May 2013, it was announced that Stone had joined the cast of Woody Allen's new comedy film opposite Colin Firth.
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